The meaning of sport for the social reintegration of (ex-)prisoners

PhD student: Marie-Lou Libbrecht
Summary: The reintegration of prisoners is an ongoing social problem. From the academic discipline of Social Work, knowledge gaps emerge; such as the lack of knowledge from an insider's perspective; lack of knowledge about a variety of life domains deemed meaningful by the person in question, such as sports; lack of research beyond the functionalist approach to reintegration, reducing integration to prevention of recidivism, etc. Within this research, the expressive dimension of reintegration is foregrounded. Through case studies of sports programmes in different prisons across Flanders and Brussels, a programme theory on the meaning and working mechanisms of sports for (ex-)prisoners is developed on the basis of participatory observations, interviews with (ex-)prisoners and actors involved in the implementation of the sports programmes, as well as longitudinal follow-up interviews with ex-prisoners.
PhD in Social Work
Promoter(s): Rudi Roose, Pascal Delheye (Faculty Of Political And Social Sciences, Ghent University)
Periode of time: November 2021 - October 2025