FOGGIA – There are more than 100 thousand children in Italy with one or both parents detained in prison. A condition that affects many minors also in the capital and throughout the province of Foggia. A complex, difficult situation, which concerns closely and very deeply above all the rights of minors, the deprivation and traumas experienced by the children of prisoners, but also naturally by women and men in prison.
Different and, if possible, even more difficult and dramatic is the condition experienced in Italy by the 19 children (data updated to 22 January 2024) who live in prison, without being responsible for any fault, together with their mothers. In this specific case we are dealing with very young children, in the majority of cases children of foreign mothers whose situation did not allow alternative solutions, other than that of the ‘double detention’ of a convicted mother and an innocent child who needs to be looked after.
Some of those children in prison were even born there. The right to co-parenting of children of parents imprisoned for crimes outside the family and the family relationship presents great complexities linked to personal, familial, cultural and social conditions which are intertwined depending on the many personal and family circumstances.
The bond between children and their imprisoned parents is characterized in most cases by deep affection, a need for meeting and discussion, but sometimes, on the contrary, by resentment and denial.
Relational critical issues and complexities to take into account, such as the risk of identification, the thin line between understanding and judgment, forgiveness and denial, or emulation and idealization of a distant parent. Support for the foster parent also appears to be as fundamental as necessary in managing the relationship between the child and the other restricted parent. On this important and dramatic question, Thursday 2 May 2024, starting at 3 pm in the council chamber of Palazzo di Città, an important national conference will be held in Foggia. The initiative, as part of “100 days for legality and the fight against mafias”, is organized by the Juvenile Chamber of Capitanata and the Municipality of Foggia, with the collaboration and patronage of the Unicef Foggia Committee, the Foggia Bar Association , Capitanata Criminal Chamber and National Union of Juvenile Chambers.
THE PROGRAM. The proceedings of the conference opened, moderated by the lawyer Ermenegildo Russowill be greetings from: Maria Aida Episcopomayor of Foggia; Giulio De SantisCouncilor for Legality of the Municipality of Foggia; Anna Lucia Celentanopresident of the Juvenile Chamber of Capitanata; Maria Emilia De Martinispsychosocial-pedagogical sector of the National Union of Juvenile Chambers; Gianluca Ursittipresident of the Council of the Bar Association of Foggia; Giulia Magliulo, Director of the Foggia prison. Following this, “The light inside”, a documentary film by, will be screened Luciano Toriello. The themes of the conference will be introduced by the interventions of Ludovico VaccaroPublic Prosecutor at the Court of Foggia, and of Felice Maurizio D’Ettore, National guarantor of the rights of persons detained or deprived of personal liberty. The following will speak on the different and specific aspects of the issues covered by the conference: Piero RossiRegional guarantor of the rights of persons detained or deprived of personal liberty; Roberto CasellaBologna Bar-UNCM management; Clara GoffredoSupervisory Magistrate; Adelaide MinennaOrdinary Judge at the Juvenile Court of Bari; Mirella Enza Pina Malcangi, Director of UEPE Foggia. The conclusions will be entrusted to Giulio Treggiaripresident of the Criminal Chamber of Capitanata.
