10.13125/CH/5336
application/pdf
2533-1825
5336
1
en
urn:nbn:it:unica-28522
Giovanna Costanzo
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Critical Hermeneutics
Editors' Introduction
Text.Serial.Journal
https://ojs.unica.it/index.php/ecch
6
Articles
2022-09-13
2022-09-13
2022-09-13
2022-09-13
I-X
1
Giovanna Costanzo
2022/09/13
10.13125/CH/5336
I
2533-1825
1
X
urn:nbn:it:unica-28522
Editors' Introduction
https://ojs.unica.it/index.php/ecch/article/download/5336/5202
6
Critical Hermeneutics, 6 (2022)
Biannual International Journal of Philosophy
http://ojs.unica.it/index.php/ecch/index
ISSN 2533-1825 (on line); DOI: 10.13125/CH/5336




                             Editors’ Introduction




The chronicles of the Covid 19 days and forced lockdown, have often
shown us the many difficulties that schools, hospitals, nursing homes,
and prisons encountered when they found themselves managing the
pandemic emergency with the normality of existence, but the difficul-
ties particularly came to the surface when the ordinary situation was
already compromised by atavistic problems. This was particularly true
for prison institutions, which news stories at the time of the first wave
of covid denounced as being on the verge of collapse, with inmates in
revolt. This was because of the complexity of managing vigilance and
control along with the increasingly pressing requests on behalf of in-
mates, for more information and contacts with the outside world; re-
quests which the pandemic not only slowed down in fulfilling but
made even more extreme and insistent1. Although the stories were
aimed at recording situations that were out of control, they neverthe-
less had the task of focusing attention on and making people aware
of problems that have been awaiting a resolution or improvement for
too long. Let us take for example overcrowding, if it is true that over
ten thousand inmates beyond regulatory capacity are estimated to be
held in Italian prisons, despite amnesty and pardon. In addition to
overcrowding, there is the shortage of personnel in prison officers


1
           https://www.poliziapenitenziaria.it/rivolta-dei-detenuti-anche-a-rebibbia-
situazione-fuori-controllo/ (last accessed 23/7/2022).
Editors’ Introduction




and    other     roles   of   prison   administration,   for   example   socio-
pedagogical staff, administrative roles and all other profiles of prison
administration, such as medical and paramedical personnel. If stress-
ors have always characterized the prison condition, they cannot be
but amplified by the condition of overcrowding and lack of facilities
found in many prisons. In addition to this alarming data, there is also
the growing number of suicides: in fact, a recorded average of four to
five suicides per month take place in prisons in Italy, without taking
into account those thwarted by prison officers when they manage to
intervene in time.
      In recent years the attention of public opinion and politics to the
complex world of prison has certainly increased, also following events
such as the obsolescence of judicial psychiatric hospitals, or the re-
cent strong stances taken, also on the part of supervisory magis-
trates, on the need for a reform of the penitentiary system. However,
the dynamics of the organisational world of our penitentiary institutes
remains far from the understanding of those outside it. Whoever has
had the opportunity to work, teach or otherwise closely observe the
world of prisoners and their custodians has enough understanding of
the profound meaning of the diversity between those who live in con-
finement and those outside; the development of a progressive dis-
tance in lexis and gaze, the expansion of time and the possibility of
encountering oneself at a level of depth (sometimes even frightening)
that is not possible outside.
      What emerges is a situation in which so many “existences on the
margins” find themselves in: on the “margins” of a dignified life, of an
existence unable to “flourish” after the greatest failures; this never-
theless does not mean that there is no need to be placed in the con-
dition of being able to do so (even in extreme situations such as pan-
demic and prison conditions), which is what is hoped for through a
philosophical, educational and didactic reflection attentive to analyz-



II
ing the conditions of the inmate, his borderline situation (see Jaspers
1972) marked by being held in check by the sense of guilt, freedom
and suffering. Indeed, it is precisely the sense of failure that is often
reported back to us by news stories (which tell us of those who return
to a life of crime, of those who commit suicide, of those who cannot
detoxify from alcohol and drugs...), or of clamorous cases such as of
the Italian Stefano Cucchi – who had the misfortune of becoming the
victim of a system of justice which didn’t work, one which erased the
most basic human rights, such as the right to life. Through studies,
projects and daily commitment, such cases drive philosophers, peda-
gogues, socio-educational workers to seek proposals for a continuity
between city and prison institutions; for courses of action capable of
allowing a possible pathway between justice and reconciliation, pun-
ishment and rehabilitation, detention and rebuilding a life. In fact, it
is necessary to realize that the violence that runs through our cities
cannot be resolved through isolated courses of action. Any violence
inflicted on others leaves such deep wounds in the heart of the com-
munity that it will end up undermining the relationship with those
who represent and protect us if not taken charge of. For this reason it
is, yes, necessary to punish but even more so, to look after and heal
a situation (see Mortari 2021). After all, our Constitution states and
reminds us that “penalties cannot consist of treatment contrary to a
sense of humanity and must aim to rehabilitate the prisoner” (art.
27).
       This is why what is important, not only in the punitive but above
all rehabilitative sense, is a broader reflection on criminal justice and
the many re-educational paths that can be opened. Reflection on jus-
tice can become the crucial point for opening new perspectives capa-
ble of building the relationships that the guilt/crime has interrupted.
In fact, it is not just a matter of putting the reintegration of the crim-
inal at the center, but of



III
Editors’ Introduction




      taking justice back to a new point of reference, which is not
      made up of solely the law, solely the victim or      solely the
      culprit, but is a new balance between these three realities;
      only this can allow for the rebuilding of bonds and the reha-
      bilitation of the aptitude towards relations in each individual
      (Alici 2012: 13);


      that is, the ability to weave healthy relationships in the family,
school, work, community setting.
      By succeeding, for example, in combining the efforts of school
and prison, a virtuous educational community can be created. In
prison, schools and the world of research, creating community means
carrying out, community practices in order to overcome the tempta-
tion to give in to the violence of the office, a literal translation of bu-
reaucracy, or namely a false neutrality which often corresponds to
sterility- to be avoided if it does not seek to meet the needs of people
in all social contexts, even the most disadvantaged.


In fact, it is of no coincidence that viewing the film “Ariaferma” by di-
rector Leonardo Di Costanzo inspired we three editors to create the
issue Existences on the Margins: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Im-
prisonment, and guided us in the realization of this editorial project.
      Poetic and captivating, built with attention to detail, the film
manages to accompany us – with extreme delicacy – within the walls
of a penitentiary, like one of the many found on national territory; a
prison where the drama of the flow of life in jail is shared among all
its inhabitants. Ariaferma recounts the relationship between a prison-
er and a prison officer: both subjects incarcerated, albeit with differ-
ent roles, but with experiences that are sometimes not very distant.




IV
     In the film, Ariaferma is understood to be a lack of vital space,
interchange, flow of vital energy, possibilities. The film tells the story
of tense expressions, repetitive gestures which keep the rhythm of
detention inside the jail; and then something happens due to internal
organizational problems and every visit, and every activity is can-
celed, further reducing vital spaces, exchanges – the air precisely.
One evening, due to a breakdown in the electric system, the power in
the entire prison goes out and inmates and prison guards are forced
to dine at the same table with the little daylight left – a moment of
normality, of closeness, of fallen barriers, of beauty.
     The relationship between the captain Gaetano Gargiulo played by
Tony Servillo and the prison camorrista Carmine Lagioia played by
Silvio Orlando, allows us to deeply reflect on denied relationships and
above all on distant, asymmetrical roles, found particularly in the
world of gated institutions. The opportunity to possibly overturn es-
tablished patterns arises when they are forced to temporarily stay in
a section of the prison or eat together, while the power is out: the
prison then goes from “Ariaferma” (still air) to becoming a space for
life and relationships.
     In watching the film, what emerges is the theme of the relation-
ship woven by the protagonist and the captain of the prison officers,
which develops gradually over time. For contingent reasons they
weave a relationship that makes the difference, aids, and structures a
bond which guides, accompanies and transforms the individual.
     This collection of essays arises from the need to question the
meaning of detention and how the microcosm represented by prisons
can become the place to experiment with new educational paths in
order to bring lives back to health, reconnecting them to those of
others; and to ensure that the many walls built to separate and to
control (Foucault 1975) become bridges across which to encounter
existences through virtuous educational and participatory projects.



V
Editors’ Introduction




      As a result, we are able to offer food for thought which can be
useful in thinking about and implementing what we define as the
community of the after, in which the idea of prison is rethought in
continuity with the outside world, through moral, normative and de-
scriptive philosophy; the contributions of social sciences; implemen-
tation of educational practices and narrative writing.
      If self-structure is intrinsically narrative, the possibility of retell-
ing one's own story not only contributes to confirming one's identity
but also to repositioning the individual in the relationship with the
self, with social norms. There are limits of the possibility of a retelling
of one’s self in a condition of confinement (Stefania Achella, Amelia
Cozzolino). We would like to shed light on some of the issues sur-
rounding the debate on parenting in prison, in light of theoretical re-
flections and face-to-face meetings with detained mothers and fa-
thers who are rethinking their experience. (Alessandra Augelli). Start-
ing from the vision of the film Ariaferma directed by Leonardo Di Cos-
tanzo, we can examine the theme of the educational relationship in
prison, particularly in high security areas (Caterina Benelli). The edu-
cational experience in prison offers various and interesting food for
thought concerning the dynamics between teachers’ and students'
and new forms of teaching (Giovanni Cogliandro). Faced with the
paradox of a punishment that intervenes by inflicting suffering, Paul
Ricoeur not only reflects on justice and its failures, but also on the
possibilities of a remedial justice and the utopia of non-violent justice
(Giovanna Costanzo). In adolescence, a prison sentence is an ex-
treme measure which aims precisely to attempt to give an education-
al and life-changing response, through cultural, artistic and scholastic
activities. Contact with the world of education allows adolescents in
prison to enter into dynamics with significant adults and experience
valuable teaching-learning processes (Maria Rita Mancaniello). In his
novel Il carcere (En. trans., The Political Prisoner) Pavese traces an



VI
existential phenomenology of life in prison, which brings to light some
philosophical categories that mark living in freedom and in prison
(Enrico Palma). Starting from observation, analysis and ethnographic
research conducted during fieldwork in Barcelona Pozzo di Gotto Pris-
on (ME, Italy), we can offer a reflection on the concept of prisoner
and prison, which contracts and expands within different interpreta-
tive frameworks (Roberta Pandolfino). Analyzing the current living
conditions of inmates held in Italian penitentiaries allows us to high-
light the main issues and struggles of both convicts and those who
work in correctional institutions; it also deals with the issue concern-
ing the requests of assisted suicide in prison (Francesca Piergentili)
And finally in the Focusing section: the phenomenological and an-
thropological reflection on the situation of marginalization and suffer-
ing at the High-security Section of the Rebibbia Prison in Rome (Emil-
io Baccarini).
      It is difficult to give credit to the vast number of essays in just a
few words, but if there exists a common denominator, it is the urgen-
cy to raise awareness on the situation of our prisons, in the convic-
tion that the degree of civilization of a country is not understood by
the majesty of its buildings, but by the conditions of its own prisons.




                                                          Caterina Benelli
                                                     Giovanni Cogliandro
                                                      Giovanna Costanzo




References
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Editors’ Introduction




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