I repeat here what I said in the Chapter on Cultural Matching. That is, the closer people who work within the Pillars are to a problem the more willing they are to appreciate (and therefore believe) that more creative methods of working are needed to solve the problem.
Prison officers’ potential arises from the fact that they are one of the few statutory (Government-run) professionals that actually journey with (sometimes very distressed) people who are in their care, and their families.
The following points about prison staff are worthy of note [1]:
1. They live with people who have suffered trauma, who have serious addiction problems and who display the characteristics of the Focus Group for long periods of time.
2. They get to know families due to arranging visits, phone calls, occasions etc. Thus they may learn what is going on in families, who is trustworthy, who is not, even who is in danger, who is safe, who is wise, who has leadership potential etc.
3. Not only do they deal with trauma directly, (unlike many other professionals in education, health and justice) they also deal with the aftermath – sometimes for a long time.
4. They develop skills in managing anger, anxiety, fear, etc. in others, and negotiating with people who can be very unreasonable. (Sometimes these skills might be looked down on by outsider professionals who know nothing of the realities of prison life).
5. They have a vested interest in keeping people in custody emotionally well in themselves.
In short – they have a relationship (the thing that has potential for most change) with the prison community and their families, and (most importantly as we mentioned above) they are culturally familiar with their situation.
Finally, I have come across many prison officers who wish to be more involved in care than custody as such.
And their wish can, with some creativity and innovative practice within the prison system, be fulfilled. In fact, it is already happening.
While it is probably not that common to view imprisonment as an opportunity for growth and development, the Chapter on Cultural Matching (linked above – and in particular this post) argues that it can be just that.
[1]. I’d recommend, for further reading, the thesis by Gov. Richie Roche which I referenced already.