The social dimension of reading in Chilean prisons and its relation to prisonisation and desistance from crime

Based on a series of interviews with frequent readers who are deprived of their liberty in Chile and professionals associated with prison libraries, this study identifies personal and social consequences that positively affect those who have a reading habit, regardless of their sociocultural background, criminal history or social position within the prison. The research connects its findings with studies on literary reception and criminological theories, identifying that the strengthening of identity and the consequent social effects achieved through the habit of reading in prison align with factors that desistance theory considers key in the process of ceasing criminal behaviour, while also favouring a distancing from the negative effects associated with imprisonment.