Sport – a tool for the reintegration of prisoners?

The challenges former prisoners face upon release are well-known: social networks may be lost, relationships with family members could be broken or strained and employment prospects might be low.

Sport can be an effective way to engage with and motivate even the individuals with the greatest challenges in their lives. It offers an alternative means of excitement and risk taking, and provides social networks and access to positive role models.

The use of sport in prisons
Many prison sports programmes now exist. Footballers 4 Life is an example, providing life skills and health education programmes in South Africa’s prisons. The UK’s Wormwood Scrubs prison runs a rugby programme and cites the sport as being a particularly effective way to build discipline and respect:

As Nigel Seaman, who introduced the programme to the prison says: “Players call the referee Sir, they clap each other off the pitch, and the skills they learn can easily be applied in other areas outside of sport.”

By emphasising sport ethics, fair play, solidarity, integrity, handling winning and losing, respect for the antagonist- skills useful with the family, work and education – it’s possible that sport can help prepare prisoners for reintegration into society. Training in the fitness industry has even been a path to employment for some after release.

The politics of justice
While there is a lot of anecdotal evidence highlighting the benefits of using sport in prisons, the case is not conclusive. Very few studies have followed the progress of individuals from prison-based sport programmes into society. If we are to make a strong argument for using sport in prisons, more research is crucial. 

Political parties often convey an image of being "tough on crime", which can be a vote winner. The idea of prisoners kicking a football around conflicts with this. Prison, so the cliché goes, is not a holiday camp.

It’s a debate at the centre of ideas around what justice means and what it should achieve – a debate on which societies are polarised. If it is proven that a link can exist between sport and reoffending rates, we may go some way towards bridging that gap. The challenge is that it is difficult to collect accurate data; prisoners deserve the right to anonymity once released.

It is also clear that, while sport can bring people together, create a sense of inclusion and bring a connection to the outside in – important for preparing an individual for normal life – it can do the exact opposite if the culture and ethos isn’t healthy. Programmes must be planned very carefully, involving collaboration and knowledge sharing between different sectors.

Prisoners on the Move
Hopefully the European Commission funded project “Prisoners on the Move” will answer some of these questions. It was launched in 2011 to study and promote the contribution of sport to the education and social reintegration of detainees and has brought together experts from the fields of sport, prison and social inclusion. It will aim to create a European network to lobby for greater inclusion of sport programmes in prisons.

Watch the trailer for "Free to Play", a European Commission and S4S films documentary by Geoff Arbourne on the impact of sport in a Danish prison: