Within the framework of the X-Men project “Masculinities, Empathy, Nonviolence”, educators Tomislav Jelekovic and Elizabeta Matković from the Status M team are conducting workshops with young men in the correctional institution Turopolje, and with young women in the correctional institution Pozega in Croatia.
The workshops will take place every fortnight, on Fridays for girls, and Saturdays for boys. The first workshop with girls in Pozega correctional institution was held on 24 February, and 7 girls participated in this activity. On the 25th, workshops were held with 2 groups of boys (8 boys in each group) in the Turopoljes correctional institution. On the 25th, workshops were held with 2 groups of boys (8 boys in each group) in the Turopoljes correctional institution.
The initial activities carried out so far in the workshops focused on getting to know the expectations and needs of the young boys and girls, and on defining the rules of conviviality within the groups.
In the activity “Step forward”, through sociometry and the application of psychodrama techniques, they shared information about themselves, and got to know the other members of the group better, as well as the educators.
In the activity “Tree of expectations and needs”, the participants discuss in pairs, writing down what they expected from the workshops and what topics they would like to talk about. They also articulated their needs to the group, and what can be achieved given the rules of correctional institutions.
In the “Working agreement” they discussed and voted for the rules of the group, which include the practice of non-violent communication, confidentiality and respect for different opinions, but also ensuring that the needs they stated in the previous activity are met.Next, in the activity “Coloured Chairs”, the young people shared which activities they like to do and which aspects of art are nearest and dearest to them.
Then, in the activity “Coloured Chairs”, the young people shared the activities they most like to do and which forms of artistic expression are most familiar and dear to them.
