Institutional context and daily practices of social work with convicts: a sociological analysis of interactions

the article is devoted to a sociological analysis of interactions in the field of social work with convicts in the context of modern institutional transformations in Russia. The purpose of the study is to identify and comprehend the contradictions between the normatively fixed goals of re-socialization and real everyday practices determined by the institutional framework of the penitentiary system. The objectives of the study included: analyzing the institutional design of social work and probation, studying the content of everyday interactions between social workers, convicts and other actors, as well as identifying key dysfunctions and barriers in the relationship under consideration. The methodological basis of the study was the analysis of scientific publications and works devoted to these issues, as well as the practice of social work with convicts. As a result, certain gaps have been identified between the practice of humanization implemented through new institutions (probation) and the peculiarities of the penitentiary system, which is able to reproduce criminalization and stigmatization in case of errors in the practice of executing criminal sentences. The scientific discussion is based on the issues of probation effectiveness, the social worker's role conflict and the potential for intersectoral interaction. The practical significance of the work lies in the development of proposals to improve institutional design, personnel policy and interaction technologies aimed at overcoming the identified contradictions and increasing the effectiveness of the rehabilitation of convicts.

social work with convicts, institutional context, daily practices, penitentiary system, probation, re-socialization, sociological analysis, interactions, penal enforcement system