News & Views

Prisons are too often places of conflict, violence, and fear. Isolated in overcrowded and understaffed facilities, prison inmates often become embroiled in violent disputes (Kaufer et al., 2014). The limited attention given to prison violence is testimony to the societal norms regarding acceptable conditions and

L.E.I. (Lavoro.Emancipazione.Inclusione), which stands for work, empowerment and inclusion, is a project promoted and supported by the Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation in collaboration with the Lorusso and Cutugno Prison in Turin, Ufficio Pio, the Essereumani Association, the social cooperatives Extraliberi, Impatto Zero and Patchanka,

What do companies look for in prospective employees nowadays? And, what if these employees have recently got out of prison and are looking for a fresh start? These are some of the questions that Theo Van de Veerdonk, the director of the Dutch social enterprise

CUP organised a live online event to mark the International day for education in prison on 13th October 2020. Experts from CUP member countries shared stories of the impact of COVID-19 on their work inside and outside prisons and reflected on the future of prison upskilling

Athena Dimitriou, Deputy Director of Cyprus Prisons, describes to CUP’s Eleni Takou how the pandemic affected everyday life in Cyprus’ central prison.   Firstly, I was wondering whether you could tell us a few things about your daily work routine prior to the pandemic and

Wendy, the Deputy Director Care in Vught’s Penitentiary Institution (PI) in the southern part of The Netherlands tells CUP about how they managed to cope with the Covid-19 outbreak in the prison and how the pandemic actually helped strengthen trust between staff and detainees. See

The CUP project interviewed Maria Stefa, a Social Worker at the Korydallos Prison Psychiatric Hospital, about the reality of the Covid-19 pandemic in the prison context in Greece. Korydallos Prison is the largest and more central prison in Greece and it was at the centre

The Cura Italia (Heal Italy) decree was passed in March 2020 in order to ensure social distancing and contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus in Italian prisons by relaxing the criteria for the home detention of detainees (for those who had less than 6

Sadly, Covid-19 knows no boundaries and, as was to be foreseen, it found its way into prisons across Europe. We asked Perla Allegri to give us a brief overview of the situation across Europe. Perla Allegri is a researcher at the Fundamental Rights Laboratory of

Victor Hugo once said: “He who opens a school door, closes a prison”.  What does this mean? What is the added value of education programmes in prisons in the 21st century? “Victor Hugo’s famous words are still very relevant today. Education offered in prisons is