Sentences must aim at rehabilitation, states article 27 of the Constitution. Stories from prison of those who have been trying for years through yarn, organic farming and philosophy. In a podcast.
They reduce reoffending, restore dignity and give value to the time of a sentence. This story takes us inside Lombardy's penal institutions, to discover work projects and cultural initiatives for inmates: still few, but growing. In prison, freedom can take unexpected forms. It can carry the scent of produce grown using organic methods, or the sound of sewing machines. It can narrate and reflect through philosophy. The activities that inmates carry out inside penal institutions are not merely occupations and work for their own sake; they are intended to be a genuine social project, and to have an impact on the lives of those serving sentences. Work, training and cultural projects are indeed growing within Lombardy's remand prisons. They may be drops in the ocean compared to the alarming figures on overcrowding in Italian prisons and the resulting difficulties. Yet they are elements that perform a fundamental function in transforming time in prison into time for rehabilitation and dignity, as envisaged by article 27 of our Constitution.
The accused is not considered guilty until the final sentence. Sentences may not consist of treatment contrary to the sense of humanity and must aim at the rehabilitation of the convicted person.Article 27 of the Italian Constitution
Alice wants to be the opportunity for female inmates to once again be part of a project: "With these women, after a long training path that lasts years, we produce artisan tailoring of women's clothing and textile furnishings," says Luisa Della Morte, social director of cooperativa Alice. "Gatti Galeotti and Sartoria San Vittore are our two brands, the result of the activities carried out in prison. One day, a magistrate from the surveillance court invited us to weave court gowns together with these women: today we produce around two thousand gowns not only for judges but also for magistrates and lawyers."
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This is the kind of sentence that guides those convicted towards rehabilitation. "Our goal," concludes Luisa, "and our greatest achievement is that these women continue, even after leaving prison, to collaborate with Alice, weaving and putting into practice what they learned inside the penal institution." Actions and activities such as those of cooperativa Alice address not only the issue of the dignity of the time inmates spend in prison, but also the lack of employment opportunities for people whose freedom is restricted: in doing so — in this case — the inmates learn a trade that, once they have served their sentence, can be spent in terms of employment in the labour market too.
What is more, work experience in prison produces an increase in self-esteem and self-confidence, and promotes interaction with others, punctuality and reliability in relationships. Work in prison is a force against reoffending. Work in prison is a bridge with society, between those on the inside and those living on the outside.
It is precisely with this in mind that the Cremona-based cooperativa Nazareth decided in 2014 to build a business inside prison, and to do so with a social footprint. The cooperative started out with a small plot of vegetables and fruit grown using organic farming methods. "We were told that there was a disused but still functioning kitchen in the prison," recounts Giusi Brignoli, head of the production area at cooperativa Nazareth, "and we decided to integrate our production chain by creating processed goods from the raw materials. The harvested vegetables are therefore brought inside the prison and there they are processed by the inmates alongside the cooperative's staff."
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-mzoaZPubE The final product is preserves or vegetables ready to be sold. "Agricultural work confers professional skills both on the young people supported by the cooperative and on the inmates who work alongside them," Giusi continues. "The farming community in Cremona is beginning to buy our organic produce because what we produce has not only a value linked to the product itself, but also a social value."
Here too, work becomes a bridge between those inside prison and those on the outside. A bridge built from good practices, paved with good organic food. A practice that, from within prison, also calls on the wider community to adopt different, clean, healthy, organic and solidarity-based ways of producing and consuming.
It is not only work that restores dignity to those in prison. So too does training, education and the nurturing of the spirit. The figures from the association Antigone say as much: work and training cut reoffending by 80 per cent. In practice, studying and learning a trade are solid building blocks on which to shape a new life once outside the prison universe. Philosopher and teacher Paola Saporiti, through the association Sesta opera San Fedele, decided in 2014 to bring philosophy and prison together, to create seeds that, with time and the right care, might grow and bear fruit. From this idea and her determination, Café Philò was born. "I carry out this activity together with my final-year secondary school students, both in the male wing and, since 2015, in the female wing of Bollate prison," the teacher explains. "This is a moment that stimulates reflection among both students and inmates on themes that have been the subject of great philosophers' reasoning, such as happiness, the other, respect, success and choice." When philosophy is brought back to the ordinariness of everyday life, inside a prison, not only does it return to its most authentic origins, but above all it reveals the full educational and formative value it holds, embodying the true meaning of article 27 of our Constitution, by which sentences must aim at the rehabilitation of the convicted person. Work, training and culture, the gowns and yarns of Alice, the good organic food of cooperativa Nazareth and the reflections stimulated by philosophy allow prison to be not a place of isolation, but a bridge that reconnects those who have made mistakes and are inside the penal institution with those living on the outside, with society.