penal system

The St. Elisabeth Association has been supporting the Hessian justice system in the area of right-wing extremism since 2018 through the “seed – prevention in juvenile detention” project. Socio-educational measures and programmes are aimed at inmates, while qualifications, further training and support are offered to employees of Hessian prisons and probation services.

seed is funded as part of the federal programme “Demokratie leben!” and with funds from the Hessian Ministry of Justice. The project is particularly active in the Rockenberg and Wiesbaden prisons and is part of the KOgEX project network – Competent against extremism in prisons and probation services.

seed stands for

The main objective of our work is primary and secondary prevention in the area of right-wing extremist affinities of adolescents and young adults in the justice system.

Work with prisoners

Right-wing extremism is a social phenomenon and prisoners can also harbour right-wing extremist ideological elements or world views. In addition, they are often people with low self-esteem, a lack of experience of recognition and limited or denied social effectiveness. They also take up current issues and process them under the conditions of everyday life in prison. This can also be a favourable breeding ground for right-wing extremist ideas. In prison, we can also encounter people who have committed right-wing extremist offences.

Objectives

One of the functions of right-wing extremism is to close the gaps experienced in life. Therefore, offers are needed that enable other experiences, skills and thus a different life balance: mutual respect, confidence in being able to master one’s life, belonging and participation, physical experience that is not violence-oriented, experiencing new meaning in existence, opportunities to restructure ideas and experiences and self- and social skills. In the context of the prevention of right-wing extremism, these are scientifically proven to be the central conducive factors.

The aims are

to deal with ideological elements, political and social issues and to enable learning through new factual information and experiences.
Strengthening identity, dealing with one’s own biography, one’s own experiences in everyday prison life and one’s own perspective.
dealing with violence, physicality and communication

Content and methodological approaches

We currently work primarily in group settings with heterogeneous groups of inmates. We work together to explore personal skills, social learning and support self-motivation for learning and change processes. We reflect together on biographical experiences and identity characteristics.

Our methodological approaches are in particular

Social skills training

Our trainings focus on the participants’ ability to achieve their goals while maintaining positive relationships with others. Various concepts of violence prevention, exercises and communication situations are used as part of these programmes.

Biography work

The aim of biography work is to gain a better understanding of oneself and one’s own life, environment and social conditions. Biography is understood as an active process. This means that the participants have to decide for themselves again and again what was or is particularly important, formative, offending or challenging in their own lives.
This better understanding of their own lives can help them to categorise experiences and build up inner distance, but also to make resources visible.

Media education

Media education measures are designed to sensitise participants to right-wing ideological elements. The projects address these using everyday topics and help them to see through right-wing extremist arguments, including in music, film or language, and to critically reflect on and question them.

We work in a process- and experience-orientated way and, supported by a body- and movement-related concept, strive for learning with head, heart and hand. We follow the basic idea of positive peer culture to promote self- and social responsibility.

Qualification and further training for prison and probation officers

Prison and probation professionals may also be confronted with extremist tendencies and (potential) radicalisation processes in the course of their work. We offer training courses to sensitise them to right-wing extremism and strengthen them in their role as reference persons and guiding figures for young detainees. This perspective takes into account the fact that imprisonment is a crisis-ridden experience for young people and adolescents, with specific risks (also) with regard to radicalisation processes. At the same time, it offers opportunities for helpful approaches. In addition to strengthening skills and competences, the training courses are therefore about reducing risk factors that can be induced by imprisonment.

Contents and methodological approaches

Further training courses in the area of right-wing extremism provide basic knowledge on right-wing extremist manifestations and developments, right-wing extremist radicalization processes, push and pull factors based on biographies as well as practical aspects of dealing with one’s own attitude and effectiveness, motivation-enhancing communication and reflection on case understanding for everyday law enforcement. In this way, they promote awareness of right-wing statements and actions, provide information about right-wing extremist motives, music, media and actors, and offer an exchange about the background, impact factors and dynamics of right-wing extremist radicalization.

The duration of the training courses ranges from three-hour and full/multi-day training courses on right-wing extremism or current sub-areas to three-day cross-phenomenon events together with the Violence Prevention Network.

Write us a message at:
seed@rote-linie.net

Networking

We are part of the “AG Strafvollzug und Bewährungshilfe”, a network of around 30 civil society organisations that implement extremism prevention and dissociation counselling services in prisons and offender support services.

ag-strafvollzug-und-bewaehrungshilfe.de