Social And Pedagogical Support Of Persons Serving Sentence In Places Of Imprisonment

Abstract

The article presents research results of social and pedagogical supporting of male convicts in correctional facilities. The notion of essence of social and pedagogical support of convicts has been determined in researches of different authors on the basis of analysis of substantive aspect of this notion. Problems of the process have been defined in relation with common tendencies of development of penal system of the Russian Federation. It has been found that value and purpose characteristics of development essence of the system include humanistic principles of resocialization of convicts which should be implemented in the context of social reorientation and pedagogization of punishment environment. A system-forming element is the subjective position of convicts themselves in the process of self-correction, which provides the subject-subject scheme of interaction of participants of correction process. A step model of self-correction which includes a progressive transition from a personal level to an active one has been suggested, this, in turn, predetermines appearance of a cognitive level as the awareness of purpose, ways and methods of self-correction. Essense and significance of social and pedagogical supporting convicts on the path of self-correction have been revealed. Based on presented tools of social and pedagogical supporting convicts, resocialization occurs at all structural levels, including needs, motivation, cognitive area, moral attitudes, willpower, interpersonal relations, creativity. Thus, the purpose of crinminal punishment – resocialization – is achieved by social and pedagogocal means.

Keywords: Social and pedagogical supportsubjects of correction facilities of penal systemcomplex of measurements

Introduction

Social and pedagogical support of a person which provides favorable life conditions causes a special interest of domestic and foreign researchers. Personal need for social and pedagogical supporting arises when one meets problems of interacting one’s social environment. Note that the most developed tools of organizing similar processes have been already presented in fields of education, health, and social protection. The experience of implementing the support of such type indicates positive dynamics of development of a person as the subject of his own activities. We can attribute to value and purpose attitudes the following: support of a person in order to help to build his social relations, and support in order to help to solve personal problems. As a result, the subject is able to overcome difficulties of sociolization self-dependently in the context of regulating his relations with environment. Consequently, social and pedagogical support is the factor of solving real contradictions between the actual level of social experience of the convict and the insufficiency to solve personally significant social problems.

In domestic studies, the essence of the notion ”social and pedagogical support“ is considered as a special form of social and pedagogical help which suggests search for hidden resources of one’s development, one’s reliance on one’s own possibilities, and creating, on this base, conditions to restore one’s relationships with the world of people (S osnin a, 2011); as a method providing conditions for a subject to make optimal decisions in various situations of life choice, at that support being always an interaction between a supporter and a supported (R ozhk ov, 2005).

Thus, social and pedagogical support of convicts is the process of interaction between a teacher and a convict which allows to develop tolerant relations while learning new models of interaction with oneself and society, and overcome difficulties of sociolization by forming relevant personal qualities.

A large number of convicts in places of imprisonment, which commited a crime for the first time, or repeatedly, means that knowledge of this problem is insufficient, and measures of supporting are ineffective. Consequently, to achieve the goal of criminal punishment is a pedagogical problem as well. Activities of penal system are closely associated with pedagogical tasks, forms, methods, and techniques (G orlinsky, 1999). Executive personnel of penal system constantly apply pedagogical methods. For example, solving professional problems of communication with convicts often requires use of methods of explanation and persuasion. Results of activities of an officer depend on his or her pedagogical abilities: general and professional education, development, mannerliness. Success can be achieved, while implementing a client-oriented approach of C. Rogers.

Problem Statement

Russian and foreign studies devoted to methods and techniques of resocialization of convicts suggest various ways of implementing this process: active involvement of convicts in amateur organizations (Ufimcev a, 2010), pedagogical process of self-correction (Str oev a, 2011), volunteers’ activities to improve punishment environment (V olunteer, 2010), connection between prison environment and behavioral consequences (Wright, 1993), self-determination in rehabilitation (Millw ard & Senker, 2012). Analysis of studies allows us to conclude that application of social and pedagogical supporting of persons deprived of liberty has not received serious consideration yet.

An important and necessary step to achieve the goal of resocialization with pedagogical means influencing social environment is to detect mechanism and content of social and pedagogical practical work with convicts (in our study we make an emphasis on work with male convicts) as well as factors influencing this process;

Research Questions

Purpose of the Study

According to the definition of social and pedagogical support, its main components and directions are educative, psychologic and social kinds of work with convicts, in total they are intended to provide resocialization of convicts and their integration into society as full citizens. The content of all these directions has not been enough developed, this fact was the reason of the research described in our work (Rogaleva, Martynova, Boyarskaya, & Shtokolok, 2019). The purpose of this article is to describe the mechanism of social and pedagogical supporting of convicts, using the combination of pedagogical, educative, psychological, and social components.

Research Methods

In order to study factors impacting on the process of social and pedagogical supporting of convicted men, analysis of data of the official site of Federal Penitentiary Sevice as well as theoretical analysis of studies on this problem were conducted. To reveal components and mechanism of the process of social and pedagogical supporting of convicted men, the modeling of value-target elements of social and pedagogical support was made, the model of self-correction of convicts as well as a complex program of influencing convicts were designed.

Findings

According to the data of the official site of Federal Penitentiary Service from January 1, 2019, adult penal colonies contained 264 287 of male convicts. Having analyzed the state of male criminality and kinds of crimes committed by men, we can conclude that the commonest crimes committed by men serving sentences in prisons are those associated with drug trafficking - 115 147 persons (43,5%). Following them, there are murders – 83 965 persons (31,8%). 64 502 persons (24,4%) endure punishment for theft. Proportion of men convicted for the second time is 28%, that of men with three and more criminal records is 72%. Also, we found that 37,6% of men are serving a sentence under the same article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation repeatedly.

Quality and methods of social and pedagogical supporting of convicted men depend on several factors:

• – kind of penal institution and terms of serving sentences in the form of liberty deprivation. As a rule, in general regime penal colonies young prisoners are held which need to get more education, labor professions, to save or to form a family, to communicate with relatives. In maximum security penal colonies more mature prisoners with longer terms of punishment are held, this fact should be taken into consideration.

• terms of punishment. From the moment of entering a prison till the moment of release more than a year pass, as a rule. The whole period of staying in a correctional facility may be divided into three stages: initial, main, final. Stages are interconnected, but each has its own peculiarities and special type of correctional impact. Each stage is characterized by priorities and kinds of work. Initial stage is usually called adaptive, it means that the first time of staying in the colony is the process of adaptation and getting used to new conditions. Main stage of enduring punishment (the main part of the punishment term) starts in the detachment in which the convict will serve his sentence, after leaving a quarantine department. At this stage the convict is exposed all measures of correctional impact. At the final stage (within six months before the release), the most important measurements associated with preparation of the prisoner for release and a new life in society are carried out;

• separate stay of convicts which is carried out based on classification, depending on severity of a committed crime, on whether there are previous criminal records, and other circumstances. Different conditions of serving sentences, degree and duration of isolation, legal and moral characteristics of convicts in colonies of different regimes predetermine specific features of preparing for release in each individual case.

In the context of reforming Penal System of the Russian Federation founded on principles of humanism, social reorientation, pedagogization of the processes of imposing and enduring punishment, the social and pedagogical work with convicts comes to the fore. This work is defined as one of main tools of achieving the purpose of criminal proceedings – resocialization of convicts.

Based on the studies and the analysis of practical work with convicts in correctional facilities, we can define the content of social and pedagogical support through its components: educating, psychological, and social kinds of work which, in total, influence the personality of a convict with the goal of his resocialization. Thus, finally, the social and pedagogical work should result in a person resocialized and developed in all aspects: motivational, cognitive, moral, interpersonal, creative ones (Smit as & Gust ainiene, 2017).

Educative work with convicts can provide them with secondary, vocational, and even higher, education through educating programs. First of all, this work focuses on the personal development of cognitive and creative levels. The goal of educative work with convicts is not limited only by achieving the certain level of education or qualification, but it focuses on organization of education as a pedagogical process with a powerful resocializing and correcting potential, which increases prospects of successful social reintegration after release. The second goal of social and pedagogical support is a comprehensive correction of a person, including his needs, motivation, moral attitudes, creative potential. In this case, the model of self-correction of convicts may be implemented: the first phase – personal (correction of motives, beliefs, value-target reference points); the second step – active, which includes the definition of the goal of a personal correction, selection of adequate ways of achieving the goal which provide the development of a socially positive potential of the convict; the third step – conscious implementation of goals and ways of a personal correction in one’s life.

Productivity of this kind of support predetermines changes in the educative work with convicts. Within the framework of moral upbringing the system of various correctional measurements directed at revealing and neutralizing negative moral qualities, ethical beliefs, views, and habits as well as at developing values in convicts, i.e. forming a spiritual personality, is being performed (R ogers, 1995). Legal education is the complex of educational measurements directed at development in convicts of a correct understanding of goals and essence of laws, firm belief that laws must be followed, and that behavior must be in compliance with norms both during stay in a correctional institution and after release. Labor upbringing is the system of corrrection measurements which attract convicts to labor activities, thus preparing them to a socially useful work after release. Labor upbringing includes psychological, practical, and moral kinds of preparing convicts to a socially useful labor. Physical upbringing is the system of physical education and sports measurements as well as fitness activities performed in order to improve prisoners’ health, develop their physical strength, moral qualities, teach them to lead a healthy way of life and prevent illnesses.

Of special significance is religious upbringing as the system of methods and means of impacting on a person, in order to cultivate in him fundamental laws of religious morality and ideology, form such moral feelings as sympathy, honesty, respect to other people, etc. Religious education influences convicts positively through worship services and ceremonies held by representatives of different confessions; through freedom to profess any religiоn, and express any attitudes towards religion; through participation of clergy in an educational process, in order to make this process more comprehensive, to satisfy spiritual needs of convicts, to support them psychologically. All kinds of upbringing represent a complex program of impacting on convicts, this program allows all subjects of social and pedagogical supporting convicts to schedule activities, using educating measures.

One more component of social and pedagogical support is psychological work with convicts which is directed at, first of all, psychological support during the process of resocializing convicts. Leading directions of the psychological work in correctional facilities are psychodiagnostics, counseling, psychocorrection, and psychoprevention. Psychodiagnostics provides for examining and summarizing personal and group characteristics of convicts. Counseling is considered as professional recommendations and advices presented to convicts. Psychocorrection is defined as a personal intervention directed at achieving positive alterations of mental state, behavior, and personality of the convict. Psychoprevention is intended to form awareness of ways of applying psychological knowledge for personal growth and improving as well as for sensible life planning. On the whole, psychological work impacts on the personality of the convict, changing all his aspects: needs, motivation, moral attitudes, ethics, interpersonal relations.

The following component of social and pedagogical support is social work, the subjects of which are officers of penal institutions, representatives of state and private institutions. Value reference points of social work are interaction and collaboration between subjects of social and educating work leading to social personal development of the convict: restoration (or making) of social status, family ties, useful social relations as well as conditions contributing to integration of the convict into society as a full citizen;

Conclusion

Mechanism of social and pedagogical supporting convicts presented in the form of combination of pedagogical, educative, psychological, and social components comprehensively covers the entire personality of a convict. Resocialization occurs at all structural levels, including needs, motivation, cognitive area, moral attitudes, willpower, interpersonal relations, creation. So, implementation of social and pedagogical supporting convicts achieves the goal of self-correcting the personality of a convict more successfully.

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