Starting at the end of July 2025, the new phase of emotional support for inmates involved in the Ripartire – social reintegration project began in penitentiary centers no. 18 and no. 19 in the cities of Florida and Durazno (Uruguay).
This activity represents a fundamental step in the rehabilitation and social reintegration process, central objectives of the fieldwork carried out by this project.
A path parallel to the practical laboratories
Emotional support runs parallel to practical workshops, such as the carpentry one we have already mentioned, and offers participants a space managed by social psychologists, where men and women serving prison sentences learn to manage their emotions .
Not only that: they also learn how to strengthen the relational and social skills that will be essential to them once they leave prison.
The stages of the training sessions
To date, these meetings have been structured around four thematic areas: building emotionally healthy environments; learning to unlearn; communicating; and, finally, getting along with others.
At the end of each session, each participant is invited to express —in writing—what they took away from the workshop. This—which may seem like a simple exercise—is actually a tool for emotional synthesis and personal reflection.
Terms like patience, calmness, trust, control, and perseverance recurred frequently. They were mentioned repeatedly by individual inmates. One of them wrote: “If I had stopped to think, I wouldn’t have done it.”
Dignity, responsibility and new possibilities
The Ripartire – Social Reintegration project confirms the value of the integrated approach promoted by AMU, which combines technical skills, emotional support, and humane accompaniment to promote paths of dignity, responsibility, and new opportunities for rebuilding a life outside of prison after serving a prison sentence.