THE ROLE OF THE BAPTIST COMMUNITIES IN TIMISOARA IN THE SOCIAL SUPPORT AND SOCIAL REINTEGRATION OF OFFENDERS

摘要

For several years, Baptist communities from the city of Timisoara have been playing a significant role in the socio-spiritual support of young offenders. This support has taken a wide variety of forms. Church members have been involved in systematic visits to the Timisoara and Arad prisons, where educational, emotional, spiritual, and material support was offered to a large number of inmates. Similar support (albeit with several distinctives) has been offered by church communities and Christian NGO's to young offenders from the Buzias Re-Education Centre. Also, NGO's connected to the Baptist community have been involved in offering computer training and specialised therapy to former offenders as a means of psychological support and social re-integration. The goal of the present paper is not only to identify and describe such contributions, but also to place and analyse them in a wider national and international context.