BELONGING IN A CHURCH COMMUNITY, A RESOURCE FOR PEOPLE DETAINED
BELONGING IN A CHURCH COMMUNITY, A RESOURCE FOR PEOPLE DETAINED

Summary/Abstract: This article proposes an investigation into how religiosity and religious activity carried out in the penitentiary by the church community to which it belongs represent a point of support during detention and become a resource in the implementation of detainees' post-detention plans. Given the restrictions and lack of activities in prisons, should we ask ourselves the legitimate question of whether the church community is a point of support for the person deprived of liberty during detention? And can the church community of affiliation become a resource in the realization of post-detention plans for detainees? Restrictions and lack of prison activities have been associated with depression and apathy among inmates, as well as creating difficulties in reintegrating into disadvantaged communities (Curran and Wilkinson, 2010; Whiteford, 1997, 2000). Increasing the quality and number of relationships can alleviate the potential for health problems and prevent depression (Faust et al., 1985), social anxiety (La Greca and Lopez, 1998), feeling lonely, empty interrelational and suicidal ideation (Bonanno & Hymel, 2010; Plămădeală V., 2018; Bonanno & Hymel, 2010; Erskine, 1995). Programs created in order to improve living and professional skills allow the development of functional roles and routines, as well as the development of pro-social behavior (Burtz, 2010). The results of this research show that most detainees believe that religion will help them in social reintegration, and the importance given to religious participation after incarceration is significantly higher compared to the time before incarceration. The main social factors perceived by tre detainees as impediments in the process of integration into society are: the rejection based on the labeling made by state institutions, poverty, the lack of a home, which increase the risk of recidivism. The success of the social adaptation of liberated persons, to a large extent, depends on the social entourage in which they will happen to return after the liberation, i.e., on those groups in which they will have to fulfill their social roles and functions.

• Details
• Contents