Inmates on Sports-Related Leaves: a Decisive Experience

The object of this paper is to discuss sports-related prison leaves, and to analyze the questions these outings raise for those inmates to whom they are granted. Observation of these operations shows that behind the original goal of the sports outing, which is to compete and to share sporting values, another, more crucial stake emerges, having to do with the way they deal with their stigmatizing status, and with the legitimacy of their presence in social events.