Social Work "Uni im Vollzug": Incarcerated student leads ASH seminar

Dr. Julian Knop, visiting professor for criminology at the Alice Salomon University of Applied Sciences Berlin and chairman of the association Tatort Zukunft e. V., is organizing a seminar on the topic of "Criminology and Social Work - With a focus on juvenile delinquency" in the summer semester 2023 at ASH Berlin. Today, as part of the "Uni im Vollzug" program, an incarcerated student was a guest at ASH Berlin for the first time and designed a seminar unit: Amir* successfully completed the First State Law Examination during his time in prison and is currently studying for a master's degree in law at the Distance Learning University of Hagen. He is incarcerated at the Tegel Correctional Facility (JVA). For the seminar at ASH Berlin, he was granted an accompanied outing with social workers from JVA Tegel - it was his first outing in years.

"The juvenile detention center is a cosmos of its own".

His lecture at the interface of criminal law and social work complemented legal perspectives on the purposes of punishment and the age of criminal responsibility with his own experiences from the (juvenile) penal system. "The juvenile prison is its own cosmos. There, it's usually about survival - that is, getting through everyday life well with the limited resources you have. There's also a certain amount of trial of strength associated with that. Because of the age range you're in, the role of 'incarcerated youth' then also solidifies in character, causing lasting damage."

The seminar also discussed the demand, which became loud after the events in Freudenberg (North Rhine-Westphalia) and Wunsiedel (Bavaria), to also prosecute children under the age of 14. This demand was also discussed against the background of Amir's experiences as a young person during his several years in a juvenile prison. Amir: "The political debate about lowering the age of criminal responsibility misses the point, because it should actually mainly focus on punitive purposes and the meaningfulness of juvenile sentences." The students added that the focus here should also be on reforming help systems.

Integrating expertise, promoting resocialisation

About the reason for the invitation, seminar leader Julian Knop said, "On the one hand, we want to include people with experience of crime and imprisonment and their expertise in our course. On the other hand, it is scientifically well proven that educational measures during imprisonment promote resocialization. Since currently incarcerated students have little contact with the outside world and study in great isolation, we would like to facilitate an exchange between incarcerated students and students living in freedom beyond the prison walls and thereby also support Amir in his educational journey during incarceration. In this context, I would also like to thank the staff of Tegel Prison for their trust and support during the visit."

Together with Prof. Dr. Kirstin Drenkhahn from the FU Berlin, Prof. Dr. Heinz Cornel from ASH Berlin and his colleagues from Tatort Zukunft e.V., Dr. Julian Knop founded the so-called "Uni im Vollzug" (University in Prison) in 2018 in cooperation with the Berlin Senate Department of Justice and Tegel Prison, in which ASH social work students attend a joint seminar together with prison students from Tegel Prison. The project is unique in Germany, and the idea of inviting incarcerated students to a university is probably also unique. According to research by the association Tatort Zukunft e. V., about 140 prisoners in Germany are studying at the Open University of Hagen. Studies in prison lack exchange with other students and lecturers, group work and lively discussions, access to the Internet and the opportunity to present their own ideas. These are central and almost self-evident elements of studies outside of prison, but in the prison context they are usually not part of the educational experience. The "Uni im Vollzug" is an answer to this problem. Despite the adverse circumstances of distance learning, for some people studying in prison is an important building block in the process of resocialization, in that it can change perspectives on life and improve job opportunities after release.

It is planned to involve ASH Berlin students in the "Uni im Vollzug" again in the winter semester of 2023/24 and to have a seminar held at JVA Tegel.

Interview opportunities Journalists have the opportunity to conduct an interview with Dr. Julian Knop, the initiator of the "Uni im Vollzug". If you are interested, please contact the ASH University Communications team at: hochschulkommunikation@ avoid-unrequested-mailsash-berlin.eu.

*Note: Name has been changed by the editors