Controllo sociale, servizio sociale e professioni di aiuto nel sistema penitenziario

In Italy there is a prison and probation system based on a rehabilitative model that is aimed at social reintegration of the author of the crime, which is connected with social policies and entrusts relevant tasks to the helping professions. Among these, social work is affected by changes in social policies and a new social order, marked in Europe by the influence of neo-liberal thought (Lorenz, 2005; Dalrymple, Burke, 1995, 2006). In this scenario, changes in social policies, which have occurred with the crisis of the welfare state, are interwoven with those of criminal policies. The central research question, proposed in contemporary sociological literature, with particular reference to the U.S. and Britain, is of the gradual transition from a model mainly focused at ensuring social welfare, to a model in which the dominant interest is to increase effective social control (Garland, 2004). In this “new welfare” there has been an impoverishment of social protection, and resources for the most vulnerable segments of the population. This process has led - in some cases - to discriminatory policies, aimed at segregation and incarceration of the most disadvantaged people. In the research presented in this paper, 43 semi-structured interviews were carried out in three regions of northern Italy, to professionals working in the penitentiary sector (mainly social workers). Through them, we have focused on the representations of the respondents on specific issues, including: the crisis of the welfare state in relation to the penal-welfare system, the culture of control and the changes in the functions and activities of social workers. Results show that social workers reject punitive responses, especially those towards the most disadvantaged social groups. Furthermore, in a long-term assessment, there does not seem to emerge, for social workers, a loss of strength as a group and status. There is, in fact, a certain evolution of social work from the methodological point of view, the attention of the profession to internal organizational issues and networking with other local agencies. On the other hand, in the crisis of welfare state and the rehabilitation ideal, political ideals and "strong" values, felt by the entire professional community, seem to be lacking.