The Right to Physical Activity in Italian Prisons: Critical Considerations on Official Data

Abstract

The article deals with the importance of practicing physical activity and sport in prisons, not only from a health and physical point of view but especially from a social and relational point of view. A prodromal examination of the sense of punishment between a security paradigm and a treatment paradigm opens up the analysis of the sense of practicing physical activity in prison. From a brief description of the main codes and rules in context and of some Memorandum of Understandings at a comparative level, it will then go on to outline the case studies of some social projects conducted in Italian prisons, as an example of good practices in the sector. The official data, provided by Italian Ministry of Justice, referring to the year 2017, show the absolute and relative rates of the participation of prisoners in sports activities, data which show a relatively low participation in them, especially regarding female prisoners. The conclusion attests that sport is not enough: only with the transformation of total institution in a social institution, prison can become the place where prevention strategies can offer the possibility to prevent the prisoner, once released, returns to his community with even greater problems than those who lived before entering the institute, with all possible consequential damages in terms of recidivism and social security.