CHRISTINA KELESENLI
SOCIOLOGIST, MSc, THERAPEUTIC STAFF IN KETHEA PROMITHEAS, PERAN 53, AMPELOKΙPOI, 56123 THESALONIKI,
Contact details: email: kelesenlix@yahoo.gr
Abstract
Aim: The aim of this thesis is to study the course of life of the members of a KETHEA prison Therapeutic Community programme who have been convicted with life sentence and to highlight the legal and therapeutic needs of this particular population.
Design: The biographical and interpretative method was selected as a research method and the material consists of the written biographies and the individual interviews of incarcerated individuals.
Participants: 5 members of the KETHEA Prison programme, who are sentenced to life imprisonment participated in the study.
Findings: The findings of data processing lead to the discovery of common elements in the life of all individuals in the sample, despite the fact that each biographical narrative is a special case in its entirety. A common place in all biographies is the element of repeated biographical disruptions in the course of their lives that occur through forced immigration, involvement with dependence and delinquency and imprisonment. Marginalization and stigmatization are the elements that evolve and strengthen in the course of life. Finally, the Therapeutic Community is a framework within which fragmented identity is rebuilt and transformed.
Key words: life sentence, Therapeutic Community, biographical-interpretive method, biographical disruption.
