Project description

In July and August 2001, the KFN and Freie Hilfe Berlin e.V. conducted a questionnaire survey of people working as volunteers in different correctional institutions in Berlin. For comparative purposes, former volunteers and full-time employees from various independent organisations operating in the penal system were included in the survey. The survey comprised a standardised and anonymous questionnaire which was distributed via Freie Hilfe Berlin e.V. and the correctional institutions with the help of two undergraduate students. The project was funded by the Robert Bosch Foundation.

Among other things, interviewees were asked about their motivation and their reasons for becoming a volunteer in correctional work, about their attitudes towards prisoners, punishment, and the aims of the penal system, and about the strains and challenges of their volunteer work. Initial results were presented at a conference held in Berlin on November 15, 2001, and can be downloaded in PDF form. The final results have been published in a German brochure and can be ordered from Freie Hilfe Berlin e.V.