Abstract
Delinquent behaviour is predominantly an expression of adolescent developmental phases, but at the same time a possible entry into criminal careers. Where socio-educational measures and admonitions no longer help, society reacts with youth detention and imprisonment as a last resort, in doing so it brings the young people into an environment of violence and power. The concept of the socio-educational pilgrimage as an alternative measure to imprisonment takes the young people out of this context and offers space for reflection and self-efficacy. In this article, different concepts of Learning Walks for young offenders are discussed and theoretically analysed.
Highlights
Pilgrimage as PunishmentCitation: Knospe, Yvonne, and Karsten Koenig. 2022
Though this is the most expensive form for educating young people, the results are not very good compared to the aim of reintegration in society: more than 60 percent of young offenders in German youth prison are likely to come back to court after they have finished the imprisonment (Bundesministerium der Justiz 2014, p. 7; Stelly and Thomas 2017, p. 82)
One of the main tasks in a learning walk and the accompanying coercive context for the young people is to empower the clients for the necessary changes in their lives
Summary
Offenders on the Camino de Santiago—Theoretical Background of the Learning Walks. Religions 13: 5. Similar projects have been established in Italy and Germany (Cortella et al 2018; Enger et al 2018) In this systematic analysis, we will introduce the modern concept of a penitential pilgrimage (2) and relate it to the modern pedagogy by first describing the situation of delinquent youth (3) and reviewing how current socio-pedagogical methods can be implemented in the context of the pilgrimage (4). In the French and Belgian projects, young people walk the entire route from Paris or Brussels to Santiago de Compostela in two-to-three months. In the Belgian and French projects, one or two young people under the age of 18 are on the road with a volunteer supervisor. These volunteers take a biographical break themselves, and are not on the road as educators, but as equal companions. We will briefly explain the personal situation of the young pilgrims and use different theoretical perspectives to examine how a medieval punishment can become a modern educational measure
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