Training for language and cultural mediators

On the whole people in prison live a daily dramatic situation of social, cultural isolation as well as heavy hardships owing to a plurality of factors, such as nationality, religion, social origin and educational level.

Foreign inmates are more compared to the Italian ones and experience a deep and painful sense of isolation and frustration due to their sentences, their limited knowledge of rules, the difficulty in interacting with their lawyers, often legal aids and separation from their families.

Therefore it’s necessary to aim at immigrant integration, human promotion, and prevention as well as at the management of probable conflicts among inmates, their relationships with prison operators for a better stay inside prisons.

KEY POINTS:

Introduction of  language mediators to facilitate communicationConnection and synergy with prison operators including educational area members and prison guardsParticular attention to cultural aspects and differences.

The project aim is the training of language and cultural mediators in order

- to collaborate with educational operators and prison guards involved in security

-to help foreign inmates to interact with their lawyers, with surveillance judges, judges, doctors, chaplains and in general with all the subjects in their support to facilitate communication and understand their needs.

The project is to be realized in penitentiary institutes in Trani and is for volunteers selected by Caritas and people who have already worked inside male and female penitentiary institutes in Trani.

The procedure will be organized into 2 phases:

European exchange and comparison of good practices to identify training contents and methodologies suitable to territorial needs and operators in Trani prisonsImplementation of formative activities for future language and cultural mediators and also for social, security operators and counsels appointed by the Court.