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ORIGINAL PAPER
Ways of adapting to the prison in post-release narrations
1
Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II
Submission date: 2026-01-17
Final revision date: 2026-09-07
Acceptance date: 2026-09-24
Publication date: 2026-10-29
JoMS 2026;67(3):540-561
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Objectives:
The aim of the study was to identify ways in which people receiving post-release housing support adapt to prison isolation.
Material and methods:
Qualitative research was conducted – 52 in-depth interviews with former convicts in six randomly selected post-release aid centres in Poland providing residential housing support for people released from prisons and remand centres.
Results:
Based on the narratives of former offenders, passive and active strategies were identified. Passive strategies included conformist-regulatory adaptation and isolation-withdrawal behaviour. Active strategies included pragmatic-survival adaptation, rebellious-oppositional adaptation, leader-oriented adaptation, and community-subcultural adaptation.
Conclusions:
The research indicates that the ways in which former prisoners adapt to prison conditions enable the identification of individuals who are focused on changing their lives, identifying their problems and offering adequate support already during their imprisonment, in order to effectively support the process of social readaptation after release from prison. The results of the study significantly contribute to understanding the factors influencing the social readaptation of beneficiaries receiving post-release support.
The aim of the study was to identify ways in which people receiving post-release housing support adapt to prison isolation.
Material and methods:
Qualitative research was conducted – 52 in-depth interviews with former convicts in six randomly selected post-release aid centres in Poland providing residential housing support for people released from prisons and remand centres.
Results:
Based on the narratives of former offenders, passive and active strategies were identified. Passive strategies included conformist-regulatory adaptation and isolation-withdrawal behaviour. Active strategies included pragmatic-survival adaptation, rebellious-oppositional adaptation, leader-oriented adaptation, and community-subcultural adaptation.
Conclusions:
The research indicates that the ways in which former prisoners adapt to prison conditions enable the identification of individuals who are focused on changing their lives, identifying their problems and offering adequate support already during their imprisonment, in order to effectively support the process of social readaptation after release from prison. The results of the study significantly contribute to understanding the factors influencing the social readaptation of beneficiaries receiving post-release support.
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