@article{ref1,
title="Competent witnesses: how penitentiary workers explain the violence in Italian prisons during the COVID-19 pandemic",
journal="International journal of environmental research and public health",
year="2022",
author="Testoni, Ines and Viezzoli, Davide and Biancalani, Gianmarco and Armezzani, Maria and Zamperini, Adriano",
volume="19",
number="21",
pages="e13717-e13717",
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. <br><br>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. <br><br>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. <br><br>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. <br><br>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.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1661-7827",
doi="10.3390/ijerph192113717",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192113717"
}