Influence of criminal activity of sentenced women and of their imprisonment during an execution of punishment on perception of guilt and meaningfulness of life

The doctoral thesis is engaged in the question of guilt, compassion - repentance, forgiveness, responsibility and meaningfulness of existence in the sentenced women's lives at the beginning and during their execution of punishment. Guilt is presented from Christian, philosophical- psychological point of view and also from the perspective of law. Guilt is usually prosecuted by punishment. The next chapter analyzes what kind of punishment is adequate to what guilt, which punishment is positive and which one is negative. The next chapter is devoted to a term of compassion-or repentance- as an inevitable part of the forgiving process. An author perceives forgiveness towards self and others as a necessary part of "the healing process", towards which the work of specialists in execution of punishment should be directed. Forgiveness is unthinkable without acceptance of own responsibility for one's decisions and deeds. Perception of own meaningfulness is connected with all mentioned topics. The last chapter in the theoretical part of the paper is devoted to the subject of meaning of life and loss of its meaning. The practical part focuses on the group of women sentenced for a violent crime and on the group of women sentenced for property crime. Each group is further divided according to length of their imprisonment..