Winner of the “Call for Active Social Inclusion” of the Lazio Region, with Me and my place in the world ECCOM elaborates thematic and experiential paths for the social reintegration of 12 inmates and other young people who are part of the probation program and probationary assignment to the Social Service program, aged between 16 and 24, residing in the Casal del Marmo juvenile detention facility in Rome.
The six hundred hours of the project are organized in a first phase of individual and collective orientation and a second phase dedicated to the development of an individual project, during which they are involved in workshops of storytelling, biology, social agriculture, and gardening; meetings dedicated to art, music, guided listening and musical composition, and even to food and cooking and their sociocultural and working functions, as well as physiological. Numerous moments of discussion focus on citizenship and legal rights and duties and the institutions that accompany civil and social life. A digital storytelling course allows them to express personal stories and meanings, emotions and creativity and to acquire communication and work skills. Particular attention is paid to self-knowledge with a multidisciplinary approach, which includes, in addition to the basic knowledge of the natural and cultural human constitution, the definition of desires, preferences, aspirations, skills, forms of communication, social relationships and work inclinations.
The multidisciplinary nature of the project becomes an opportunity to give space and deepen the interests and potentialities of each participant, who are supported in the path of rebuilding self-esteem – preparatory to their reintegration into society – by various professionals (educators, psychologists, health professionals, sociologists, scientific educators, naturalists, musicians, etc.) and by the breadth and formative value of the experiences proposed.
The workshops are complemented by thematic in-depth visits to places of culture, law buildings, areas of naturalistic interest, museums and centres of civil life, but also contexts of professional interest, such as catering, cooking and gardening centres. These “field” experiences are a unique prerogative of this project: they express a considerable pedagogical and experiential value, as they solicit new interests, ideas and visions; they open the horizons of knowledge and confront these young people – generally raised without basic educational and training experiences – with the realities they will have to face when they return to their communities. Group work, outside the detention facility and the usual centres, greatly enriches intra-group relations and relations with operators; strengthens their confidence; promotes socialization and collaboration.