For the third year in the penal institutions of Ukraine, the international program of reintegration of prisoners “The Prisoner’s Way”, which is implemented in prisons all over the world, takes care of reconciliation with victims of crimes, helps the families of convicts and successfully reintegrates them into society. Christian communities help in this.
The “Prisoner’s Way” program provides a structured, reproducible and interactive experience of classes in a small group under the guidance of a volunteer, promotes numerous positive internal rethinkings that affect the behavior of prisoners and lead to positive changes in their actions: discipline increases, aggression decreases and willingness to cooperate with others increases. Most convicts establish stable relationships with their volunteer mentors, which helps them integrate into the church and community, facilitating their return to society. Using a variety of learning methods for adults, the program contributes to the educational process. Some of the graduates of the program started attending prison meetings and have obvious changes in their lives. “The Prisoner’s Way” was developed by the International Association of Prison Ministry. Almost 500,000 prisoners in 40 countries of the world passed through it.
During the reporting meeting of representatives of religious organizations and institutions of the State Security Service of Ukraine on the “Prisoner’s Path” program, Deputy Minister of Justice Olena Vysotska thanked all those present for the successful implementation of the program and emphasized the importance of its continuation. Vyacheslav Kohut, Director of the Christian Mission “Spiritual and Charitable Care in Places of Imprisonment”, presented the Thanks for the significant contribution and support for the implementation of the program.