Social support
The characteristics of detention and imprisonment, such as isolation, absence of a supportive social network, interruption of relationships, etc., by their very nature create conditions for the application of social support interventions (both practical and psychological) from prison staff or persons from the outside environment to incarcerated persons.
Social support is a type of prosocial behavior and assistance characterized by acts for the benefit of another person who is in crisis or burden, without expectation of reward. It is helpful in coping with adverse life events affecting overall psychological well-being and health. (Verešová et al. 2011, p. 293)
In foreign literature in this area, we encounter the term social support1 (eng. social support), which is our equivalent of the term social support. Hobbs (2000a, p. 4) defines it as any form of help that can be requested or provided by another person, by persons in order to solve their problems, whereby the individual does not necessarily seek support, but can be helped only by the perception that it is available to him in case of need. In relation to social support in penitentiary conditions, he emphasizes as the most effective way to provide and receive social support based on normal daily interactions between prison clientele and prison staff, when the client does not require it and neither he nor the social support provider is influenced by mutual relationships.
Vanková (2020, p. 79 - 80) lists the following components of social support (supplemented by the author), while in this context she emphasizes the importance of the presence of a social worker in penitentiary conditions:
- emotional support – showing empathy and accepting the client as he is while simultaneously observing applicable rules and professional relationships, communicating about experienced problems, etc., it provides hope,
- evaluation support – enables evaluation of communication, provides useful information for self-evaluation. It strengthens the positive self-evaluation and self-confidence of a person who is in need. (Žilová 2015)
- information support – enables the provision of advice that helps to solve the problems that have arisen; creates space for the application of social counseling,
- instrumental support – provides practical types of material and material assistance; e.g. assistance with providing suitable clothing and footwear corresponding to the climatic conditions upon release from custody or serving a prison sentence, providing financial means to ensure transportation to the place of residence, assistance with finding work or housing after release from the prison, etc.
Instrumental support appears to us to be desirable, especially before the release of the client from the prison. Professional workers involved in the provision of social assistance try to ensure, prior to the release of imprisoned persons who need it, subsequent continuous assistance during the transition to civil society, either with the use of the state or non-state sector. Such assistance should include the above-mentioned components of social support, in order to make it easier for the released persons, especially in the first months after release, to cope with some of the more difficult situations related to integration into society, e.g. administrative assistance connected with paperwork at the offices, orientation in a changing society, assistance with returning to the family, community, etc. In this context, Černíková (1996) states that re-offending (recidivism) most often occurs in the first year after release from the prison.
The availability of social support in penitentiary conditions does not only help prisoners cope with stressful situations. According to Justová (In Kleskeň 2016, p. 35), available social support also contributes to the creation of new resocialization habits. And thus the habits that participate in the prevention of criminal activity are, for example, work habits, habits aimed at handling stressful situations, habits aimed at meaningful use of free time, etc.
Social support is not only crucial during the placement of persons in a prison, but also after their release from it. It facilitates the transition from the penitentiary to the civil environment, prevents recidivism and increases the likelihood of engaging in life without the threat to health affected by mental illnesses that may have arisen in connection with placement in a prison institution. (Seal et al. 2007 In Dadi et al. 2019a)
Within the prison, in addition to personnel involved in regime activities (personnel ensuring, for example, the exercise of social rights), professional personnel among whom Fr. i. they also include social workers.
A fundamental aspect of a successful and effective intervention is a positive, supportive relationship between the social worker and the client, the condition of which is empathy, respect, friendliness, warmth and genuineness. (Rezníček 1994, p. 45)
"In the intervention process, the client should have psychological and practical support in the social worker." (Schavel, Čisecký 2005, p. 106) 44% of respondents (N = 145) reported feeling of great support from the penitentiary social worker in the conditions of the Slovak prison system as part of research focused on social counseling. (Banás 2023) "Perceptions of social support among inmates are associated with reduced feelings of alienation, anxiety, and incarceration, while also leading to higher 'identity salience' and post-release expectations." (Meyers et al. 2017a In Paterline & Petersen, 1999, p. 437; see also Biggam & Power, 1997)
Studies have shown that in the period immediately after release from prison, up to 92% of prisoners who return to society are dependent on their loved ones for instrumental forms of social support related to housing, clothing, food, childcare, transportation, financial assistance and assistance with securing employment. (Berg & Huebner 2010; Naser & LaVigne 2006, In Pettus - Davis et al., p. 53)
When applying social support, we consider it important to point out the observance and respect of professional relations between interested parties2 in the prison institution, i.e. j. persons providing social support and its recipients - accused and convicted.
Imprisonment is about. i. associated with the loss of freedom, usual supports and breaking out of one's social environment. The presence of social support thus fulfills a protective function that helps in adapting and overcoming stressful situations associated with placement in a prison facility (Zimet, Dahlem, Zimet & Farley 1988 In Rodrigues and Santos, p. 213).
Sources of social support in the penitentiary environment
Social support can come from formal or informal sources. We assign family, close people, etc. to informal sources, prison staff (e.g. social workers, psychologists, clergy, etc.) and institutionalized sources from the outside environment (e.g. social curators, civil society workers, etc.) to formal sources. Cullen (1994 in Thames 2010, p. 5) states that the informal provision of social support takes place through relationships with individuals who are not associated with any state or official institution. In contrast to the formally provided social support, which is provided by formal organizations such as schools, state welfare programs, and even the criminal justice system.
Keeping in touch with your informal sources of social support in the prison can be done through visits (including video visits), correspondence and telephone calls. Maintaining contact with the external environment in the conditions of the prison system of the Slovak Republic is primarily regulated by Act No. 221/2006 Coll. on enforcement of custody, as amended, and Act No. 475/2005 Coll. on the execution of a prison sentence and on the amendment of certain laws. Solbakken and Wynn (2022 In Duwe, Clark 2013) state that "facilitating contact between incarcerated individuals and their families is particularly important because it is consistently associated with better rehabilitation outcomes by reducing recidivism after release."
From the research findings of Jiang and Winfree (2006a, p. 48) carried out in the area of the effects of social support in the placement of convicts in a prison, it follows that marital status has a different effect on male and female convicts from the point of view of violating the internal rules of the prison. Married men are less likely to break the rules than single men. There were no differences in this indicator between married and unmarried women, which Pollock (2002 In Jiang and Winfree 2006b, p. 48) explains is that the wives of convicted men are more likely to visit them and take care of their children than husbands who visit their incarcerated wives and take care of their children.
Among incarcerated women who maintain telephone contact with their children (either calling them or receiving calls from them), the expected rate of rule violations was recorded to be 27% lower on a monthly basis. (Jiang a Winfree 2006c, s. 46)
Arranging visits between imprisoned persons and their close relatives is a valued form of maintaining contact. In the case of contactless visits, inmates have the opportunity to establish physical contact in addition to a visual meeting. La Vigne et al. (2005 In Meyers et al. 2017) point out, however, that the experience of the visit and its subsequent results are influenced by the mutual quality of relations between visitors and incarcerated persons. "In other words, the dynamics and exchanges between prisoners and their visitors may not always be supportive." (Meyers et al. 2017b)
In practice, we can record such an absence of a supportive character not only from visitors to incarcerated persons, but also vice versa, e.g. in a situation where an imprisoned person has mediated visitation with his child located in a center for children and families (note the children's home) and we could expect that the parent himself would try to be a support for his child, but such an initiative does not always occur. Domnieva sa, že zdrojom môžu byť napr. disturbed (absent) support mechanisms already from the external environment.
Marešová (2013, p. 18) states that receiving social support is better for people with a higher socioeconomic status than for people with a lower socioeconomic status. Compared to people with a lower socioeconomic status, people with a higher socioeconomic status have better access to personal resources for coping with stress, are more self-confident, focus more on the internal locus of control, and have a better sense of control over the problems that arise. He cites the high density of housing3 characteristic of people with a lower socioeconomic status as a possible cause of the weakening of social support and the deterioration of family relationships.
Valentovičová (2019, p. 85 - 90) on the basis of research carried out on a representative sample of the prison population (N = 841) in the period from May 2017 to June 2017 among convicts serving a prison sentence in the Slovak Republic states that the most used form of maintaining contact with the outside environment is in 39.72% of cases through correspondence. The second most common method (35, 46%) is a combination of correspondence, phone calls and visits, while for up to 89% of convicts, family has the highest value. Convicted family members perceive psychological support in 41%, financial support in 31%, material support in 21%, no support in 5%, and support in another form in 2%.
Prisoners can receive social support from formal sources operating in the prison on the basis of their daily activities, participation in organized activities (e.g. counseling groups, self-help groups, etc.), on the basis of their own or mediated request or from other fellow prisoners. In relation to all institutional staff, it is recommended to provide training, education tailored to their general and specific responsibilities, which will reflect current evidence-based good practice in forensic science (UNODC, p. 23). We can include e.g. in the group of specific personnel. pedagogues, special educators, psychologists, social workers and clergy.
Kerley and Copes (2009 In Dadi et al. 2019b, p. 4) state that incarcerated persons participating in spiritual activities connected with the practice of faith receive social support from other committed individuals. An important role is also played by the provision of social support by external entities and their joint participation in organized activities and programs of penitentiary social work.
External formal sources include Fr. i. social curators working at the Offices of Labour, Social Affairs and Family, probation and mediation officers, civil associations participating in helping those released from custody or imprisonment and mediating work, housing or help with addiction management.
Formal sources of social support operating directly in the penitentiary and professional workers from various areas of the external environment are an important source of social support not only during the course of placement, but for some imprisoned persons also before release from the prison, when they participate in solving problems associated with returning to civil society and to family members.
Interventions of internal and external formal sources of social support can be directed to the area of developing one's own competences, work competences and acquiring new skills. Cognitive and decision-making skills training and exercises can focus on addressing the specific needs of incarcerated persons (or released persons for reintegration into the community) that affect their ability to make good decisions and control behavior. Other interventions can focus on anger management, improvement of moral reasoning, etc. in the form of experiential learning. (UNODC 2018b, p. 76)
Application of social support in penitentiary practice
Social support helps to mitigate the social problems that incarcerated persons face in relation to incarceration. The implementation of treatment in the sense of getting to know individual inmates and identifying possible risks that may occur with them facilitates mutual interactions between staff and inmates. In this regard, workers in the positions of independent regime officer, regime officer, social worker, pedagogue and psychologist play a significant role in prison conditions in the Slovak Republic. The workers in the mentioned positions establish contact with the imprisoned person in the first hours or days after her placement in the prison. Establishing contact with incarcerated persons shortly after delivery to the prison serves, in addition to providing information about rights and obligations, about the possibilities of maintaining contact and obtaining anamnestic data from incarcerated persons, as well as facilitating the establishment of meaningful social interactions. Hobbs (2000b In Smith & Fenton 1978) states that maintaining close contact between permanent staff and inmates allows them to have a better knowledge of personal information and early identification of problems.
"Social support and social intervention are adequate methodical approaches that lead to regaining a certain control of the client over the situation in which he currently finds himself." (Mátel, Hardy et al. 2013, p. 413) In the conditions of prisons, social support is applied across the individual phases of a person's placement in a prison, it is desirable, e.g. at:
- managing the delivery to prison and the beginning of the prison sentence or the transition from the community to the prison,
- the application of resocialization programs, in preparation for coping with the return to civilian life (Jamborová, 38 p.),
- coping with release from custody and imprisonment (concerns related to loss of habits and skills, integration into civil life, etc.),
- solving problems related to detention and imprisonment (e.g. communication with various external entities, etc.),
- prevention of suicide attempts (Konrad et al. 2007) and i.
Positive pro-social support mechanisms in the prison contribute to the smooth functioning of incarcerated persons and should be a good sign for ex-offenders in their reintegration into society. In contrast to the negatively (antisocially) set support mechanisms, which include the prison social system and its negativistic code of prisoners (see prisonization4), through which pro-criminal behavior can spread in the prison and later in society, which can make it difficult even to return to civil society. (Jiang & Winfree 2006c, p. 33)
Conclusion
Incorporating elements of social support into the daily routine of activities performed by prison staff and its perception by incarcerated persons represents an effective tool that has a wide application with evident results when working with this target group. Social support in the prison environment not only contributes to the overall well-being and management of the clients' problems, but also to a higher degree of compliance with internal standards, which is a positive indicator not only from the point of view of the application of the concept of dynamic security, but also the overall experience of incarcerated persons.
Grant Duwe (2018) defined the following recommendations in the field of social support in penitentiary conditions:
- as long as it is possible (capacity and security conditions allow) to place clients in prisons as close as possible to their place of residence. This will support maintaining contact in the form of physical visits with close people, even for those close people for whom it would otherwise mean significant financial, time and transport problems,
- creation of technical conditions for maintaining contact with loved ones through video visits. The measure is intended to enable the reception of social support by close persons who are unable for various reasons to use physical visits,
- enable external entities to participate in resocialization, mentoring activities and programs in the prison,
- support (or create conditions) for a smooth transition of the provision of social support from prison conditions to a civilian environment. If it is an institutionalized entity (or its employees) providing social support, it is ideal if they are located near the residence of the person released from custody or serving a prison sentence,
- for interventions connected with the provision of social support to incarcerated persons (either from among the prison staff or an external entity), there should be sufficient personnel.
The provision of social support interventions is not universal and needs to be differentiated for each individual or group of incarcerated persons in order to achieve maximum effectiveness. Findings from conducted research in the field of social support, anamnestic information, maintenance of supportive relationships with prison clientele and education of relevant prison staff in the given area can help us with this.
Author: Mgr. Tomáš Banás, PhD. Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=mBMQ0jsAAAAJ&hl=sk
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1 In the conditions of the Slovak Republic, we perceive state social support mainly in connection with the payment of various social benefits and contributions for compensation, i.e. j. as financial assistance to an individual, family. 2 This issue is also contained in the concept of dynamic security, which is based mainly on social interaction and relations in a prison between interested parties, which are members, employees and incarcerated persons (Dunbar 1985), see e.g. J. Hala 2005, S. E. Skotte 2018 and i. 3 We understand high housing density in the sense of multi-generational families living in a dwelling, an extended family living in common living spaces, etc. 4 Mařádek (2005 ) defines imprisonment as a summary of all the negative phenomena that affect convicts during their imprisonment. It has two components: institutionalization and ideologization.