Is it Possible to Consider Sport an Instrument of Social Integration of the Spanish Inmates?

Abstract

This paper considers the incorporation of sport in the timetable of the Spanish prisons and its possible social rehabilitating effect on the inmate population. Firstly, in order to show how sport practice is finally understood as a feasible mean for the reeducation and social rehabilitation of convicts, the evolution of the penitentiary legislation is revisited. Secondly the focus moves towards the beneficial effects of sport on the health of the prisoners, on their rehabilitation from drug addiction, and as a get away from the daily prison confinement; in this context, several research studies carried out in different Spanish penitentiary centers constitute the basis to reflect on the rehabilitative potential of sport. Finally, based on the multifactorial nature of social rehabilitation, certain limitations are suggested.