A Perspective on Social Reintegration through the Zwift Online Training Platform

This chapter presents a study on the meaning of the sports project The Breakaway for the social reintegration of (ex-)prisoners, as framed, theoretically, by a social work perspective. The Breakaway is an eCycling team initiated in 2012 by Oudenaarde prison in East Flanders, Belgium, and De Rode Antraciet (a non-profit organisation that implements sport and cultural programmes within the prison sector in Flanders and Brussels) for incarcerated individuals that facilitates virtual connectivity with the outside world through the online platform Zwift. Utilising the Capability Approach, the chapter examines the extent to which the project contributes to a life that (ex-)prisoners themselves find worthwhile, and transcends traditional, instrumental approaches to prisoner reintegration. Analysis uncovers the intrinsic meaning that The Breakaway holds for individuals beyond non-recidivism, offering insights into the participants, their motivations, and the factors (who, why, what) that shape the meaning-making process in relation to social reintegration.