welfare e ergonomia

Overcrowding and harsh delivery of punishment characterise the Italian prison system. Nonetheless, labour in penal institutions should be a central aspect as a re-educative tool. Social farming is a specific declination of labour activities in prison with a high positive impact on prisoners. In Italy the number of prisoners involved in social farming activities has dropped in the last decade. The Marche region presents a reverse trend with an increase in the number of social farming activities in prisons. This study investigates the Marche region case study to evaluate its output and outcome in the background of reconstructive social theory by Vandenberghe. The qualitative research design adopted (short focused ethnography, interviews, focus groups) shows the number and characteristics of social farming outputs, and the outcomes for the prisoners, institutional stakeholders and citizens. The study highlights the importance of networking between different institutional stakeholders inside and outside the prison, the positive impact on the wellbeing of prisoners and the point of view of citizens and consumers of social farming products. The results highlight the role of social farming in prison as a morphogenetic agent of reconstruction processes for the institutional and administrative personnel, for prisoners and for all citizens as consumers of prison social farming products.