On December 3, 2024, the Safe Release Plan conference was held in the premises of the New Town Hall, organized by the City Hall of the Capital City of Prague in cooperation with the Society of Social Workers of the Czech Republic and its Section of Social Curators of the SSP of the Czech Republic.
One of the speakers was the director of VOLONTÉ CZECH Lukáš Salivar, who in his contribution pointed out the fundamental influence of convict employment on their resocialization and ability to reintegrate into society. He compared the general employment in the prison population, which reached 42% in 2023, with the employment of VOLONTÉ clients, who are employed at 74% while serving their sentence. According to him, this significant difference indicates that employment plays a key role not only in improving work skills and improving the economic situation of convicts, but also in motivating personal change.
"It is a question whether this fact is caused by the fact that employed convicts are employed precisely because they are generally more active and have a greater desire to make changes in their lives, or whether the actual employment itself awakens more proactivity in people. It's probably a combination of both. Nevertheless, the contribution of employment itself as a tool for resocialization cannot be underestimated," said Salivar.
He based his opinion on the results of the evaluation of the GLM project, according to which employed convicts showed better pro-social attitudes over time than unemployed ones, regardless of participation in intervention programs. In addition, employed convicts in VOLONTÉ projects demonstrate higher activity and more often successfully complete project activities, although the combination of work and participation in the programs represents a significant challenge for all participants - convicts, VOLONTÉ workers and employees of the Czech Prison Service.
In conclusion, Lukáš Salivar emphasized that these findings deserve further investigation. Nevertheless, he already considers the employment of convicts to be an important factor in the resocialization process. "Employment in prison itself is a significant factor in the resocialization process, regardless of the nature of further intervention," he concluded his post.
Resources:
Statistical yearbook of the Prison Service of the Czech Republic 2023
Internal database of VOLONTÉ CZECH
GLM Project Evaluation Report.
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