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In the 40 years of its existence, the themes of the Rodhain Foundation’s symposia have gradually shifted from institutional issues to existential questions experienced by people in precarious situations. The decision to address the world of the prison and its social and societal implications is part of this paradigm shift, underscoring the role of a common human space made operative by the transition from punishment to sanction through a threefold listening process: firstly, listening to the words of the perpetrators of crime and their accounts of life in prison, considering the concrete issues at stake in a penalty that extends beyond the period of imprisonment; secondly, listening to the victims through the function and application of restorative justice; and thirdly, listening more generally to the judicial system and its confrontation with the particular case of elderly or vulnerable prisoners. The aim is to redefine a common human space that transcends the fragmentation caused by crime, in the demanding exercise of a culture of encounter.