CONTACTS OF PERSONS SERVING A PRISON SENTENCE WITH THEIR FAMILY AND OTHER RELATIVES

Background: Contacts between convicted persons and their family as well as other relatives is an important issue in the area of penitentiary policy. It is believed that such contacts reduce the discomfort of imprisonment and that they are a prerequisite for successful social rehabilitation and re-adaptation.Aim: The aim of the article is to present the results of the research on who prisoners contact from among their own family and in what forms.Methodology - The material for the research comes from own-made questionnaires completed by 345 people serving a sentence of imprisonment in one of four prisons in Poland. Results - It was established that convicted persons have contact (usually by telephone) especially with the following types of sources: mother, friend outside the prison, sisters and brothers. After taking into account all contacts with children, stepchildren, sisters, brothers and friends (each respondent could have several), the order of contact sources changed and was as follows: partner (male or female), mother, stepchildren. Attention was drawn to the low percentage of inmates contacting their own children. Conclusions - Maintaining and developing contacts of convicted persons with their family members and relatives should be a central element of penitentiary policy. Relatives who are known to be the main source of contact should be recruited as allies, who can help with penitentiary work.