IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i21p13717-d950177.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Competent Witnesses: How Penitentiary Workers Explain the Violence in Italian Prisons during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Author

Listed:
  • Ines Testoni

    (FISPPA Department, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy)

  • Davide Viezzoli

    (FISPPA Department, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy)

  • Gianmarco Biancalani

    (FISPPA Department, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy)

  • Maria Armezzani

    (FISPPA Department, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy)

  • Adriano Zamperini

    (FISPPA Department, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy)

Abstract

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, in the Italian prison of Santa Maria Capua Vetere (SMCV), prison police repressed a riot with extreme violence, bringing the state of prisons and the conditions of prisoners back to the attention of the Italian public opinion. Objective: This exploratory study aimed to collect the experiences and the competent opinions of the social and health personnel of Italian prisons regarding the episode of violence that happened in SMCV; the general state of health of the Italian prison system was explored, too, together with the collection of proposals for interventions aimed at the eradication of violence in prison. Method: The study employed a qualitative research design. Eighteen social-health workers from 12 Italian prisons were interviewed using in-depth interviews of ~60 min each that were conducted and recorded via Skype video calls. The interview transcripts were analyzed with qualitative reflexive thematic analysis (RTA) to identify the most relevant and recursive themes. Results: Four themes were identified: (1) reactions and thoughts about the events of SMCV; (2) structural problems of Italian prison police; (3) Italian prison system; and (4) reform proposals. Conclusions: A new and deeper awareness of the suffering of the current Italian penitentiary system emerged, together with courageous reform proposals that can restore dignity and centrality to the re-education of the detainees, preventing further future violence.

Suggested Citation

  • Ines Testoni & Davide Viezzoli & Gianmarco Biancalani & Maria Armezzani & Adriano Zamperini, 2022. "Competent Witnesses: How Penitentiary Workers Explain the Violence in Italian Prisons during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-15, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:21:p:13717-:d:950177
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/21/13717/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/21/13717/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ines Testoni & Irene Nencioni & Lucia Ronconi & Francesca Alemanno & Adriano Zamperini, 2020. "Burnout, Reasons for Living and Dehumanisation among Italian Penitentiary Police Officers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(9), pages 1-12, April.
    2. Konstantinos Papazoglou & Brooke McQuerrey Tuttle, 2018. "Fighting Police Trauma: Practical Approaches to Addressing Psychological Needs of Officers," SAGE Open, , vol. 8(3), pages 21582440187, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ines Testoni & Irene Nencioni & Maibrit Arbien & Erika Iacona & Francesca Marrella & Vittoria Gorzegno & Cristina Selmi & Francesca Vianello & Alfonso Nava & Adriano Zamperini & Michael Alexander Wies, 2021. "Mental Health in Prison: Integrating the Perspectives of Prison Staff," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-14, October.
    2. Mantji Juliah Modula & Ellen Mokgobola Mathapo-Thobakgale & Champion N. Nyoni & Ronelle Jansen, 2024. "Strategies for Coping with Occupational Trauma: A Scoping Review of the Police Officer Context," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(7), pages 1-14, July.
    3. Frenkel, Marie Ottilie & Giessing, Laura & Egger-Lampl, Sebastian & Hutter, Vana & Oudejans, Raoul R.D. & Kleygrewe, Lisanne & Jaspaert, Emma & Plessner, Henning, 2021. "The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on European police officers: Stress, demands, and coping resources," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    4. Andra Cătălina Roșca & Alexandru Mateizer & Cristina-Ioana Dan & Evangelia Demerouti, 2021. "Job Demands and Exhaustion in Firefighters: The Moderating Role of Work Meaning. A Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(18), pages 1-13, September.
    5. Jovi Sulistiawan & Massoud Moslehpour & Pei-Kuan Lin, 2022. "Linking Passion for Work and Emotional Exhaustion in Indonesian Firefighters: The Role of Work–Family Conflict," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(22), pages 1-17, November.
    6. Andrzej Piotrowski & Ewa Sygit-Kowalkowska & Imaduddin Hamzah, 2020. "Work Engagement among Prison Officers. The Role of Individual and Organizational Factors in the Polish and Indonesian Penitentiary Systems," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-15, November.
    7. Carolyn Burns & Marla Buchanan, 2020. "Factors that Influence the Decision to Seek Help in a Police Population," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(18), pages 1-26, September.
    8. José Gómez-Galán & Cristina Lázaro-Pérez & Jose Ángel Martínez-López & María del Mar Fernández-Martínez, 2020. "Burnout in Spanish Security Forces during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(23), pages 1-15, November.
    9. Cristina Civilotti & Giulia Di Fini & Daniela Acquadro Maran, 2021. "Trauma and Coping Strategies in Police Officers: A Quantitative-Qualitative Pilot Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-13, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:21:p:13717-:d:950177. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.