IN-CJ Podcast 027 – Romanian Prison and Probation – What is Success?
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This session from the IN-CJ newsdesk was coordinated by Iuliana Carbunaru and Professor Ioan Durnescu, it brought together professional staff from the Rumanian Prisons and Probation services with people who have served or are serving custodial sentences, and considers the challenges of maintaining effective prison and probation services that make a tangible difference to the individuals.
This podcast explores how prison staff, probation officers, and people under supervision in Romania define and experience success in the justice system. The discussion highlights that success is not a single achievement but a collective process built on trust, resilience, and incremental change.
From the perspective of prison staff at Jilava Prison, success was described as a series of small daily achievements: building trust with prisoners, safeguarding health during the COVID-19 pandemic, and ensuring inmates could maintain family connections. Staff also emphasised the need for more educational opportunities, training, and professional support to sustain long-term progress.
Probation officers in Bucharest framed success as “planting seeds of change.” They explained how probation is less about dramatic transformation and more about supporting gradual shifts in behaviour and awareness. Their role, as one officer described, was to re-humanise people who often feel dehumanised by the justice process.
The voices of probationers added a crucial dimension. Marius and Bogdan spoke about learning responsibility, avoiding mistakes, and the value of peer-to-peer mentoring projects. They described how opportunities such as speaking in Parliament about their experiences gave them confidence and a sense of belonging in society.
A common theme running through the discussion was that success depends on collaboration: between staff and probationers, within communities, and across wider support systems. The pandemic tested this resilience but also demonstrated the importance of communication and cooperation in achieving positive outcomes.
This conversation shows that in both prison and probation, success is best understood as a shared journey of small steps forward, supported by trust, dignity, and community engagement.
Listen to the full discussion in IN-CJ Podcast 027 – Romanian Prison and Probation: What is Success?
