Strengthening social relations in prisons: interplay and synergy between prisoners’ needs, effective measures and their implementation (NARYS)

STRENGTHENING SOCIAL RELATIONS IN PRISONS: INTERPLAY AND SYNERGY BETWEEN PRISONERS’ NEEDS, EFFECTIVE MEASURES AND THEIR IMPLEMENTATION (NARYS)

The Research Council of Lithuania, under the measure “Need-driven Research Projects” supported by the Council, is funding the project “Strengthening social relations in prisons: interplay and synergy between prisoners’ needs, effective measures and their implementation” (NARYS) implemented by the Law Institute of the Lithuanian Centre for Social Sciences (LCSS LI).

Scientific research has shown that maintaining social ties is an important protective factor that helps shape inmates’ behaviour and skills within correctional facilities and facilitates their reintegration into society. However, structured social work aimed at strengthening inmates’ social connections remains relatively new aspect of the resocialization process, requiring more in-depth research. Therefore, the researchers of this project set out to analyse the practical implementation of measures for maintaining, strengthening, and restoring social ties in Lithuanian prisons from the perspectives of both social workers and inmates.

The researchers will assess the measures implemented by social workers by first asking how well these measures meet the needs of prisoners, what effects are expected from them, what challenges prison staff face in implementing them, and finally, how these measures could be enhanced.

To address these questions, the researchers will:

  1. review the experience of foreign countries in applying social work methods and family work techniques in correctional institutions, identifying best practices, innovative measures, and experiences in implementing these methods;
  2. examine how the measures aimed at maintaining, strengthening, and restoring social relations correspond to the needs of prisoners, assess the quality of their implementation, and analyse their potential impact from the prisoners’ perspective;
  3. investigate the current practices of implementing these measures, the challenges encountered, and evaluate the elements that ensure the quality of their implementation from the perspective of social workers;
  4. develop science-based recommendations on maintaining, strengthening, and restoring social relations in prisons by assessing the current implementation mechanisms of these measures and proposing a balanced and sustainable model for the development and/ or quality assurance of their application.

 

The research team of the project consists of: Dr Rūta Vaičiūnienė (project leader), PhD student Goda Dainauskaitė, Agata Katkonienė, and Aušra Maskaliovienė.

Project duration: October 1, 2025 – September 30, 2026.

Project budget – approximately 75,000 EUR.

The project is funded by the Research Council of Lithuania (LMTLT), Contract No. S-REP-25-7.