Nacro provided a response to the House of Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee call for evidence: Prison Culture: Governance, Leadership and Staffing. Our response is based on the views and experiences of the members of Nacro’s Justice ExChange and the wider people we support.
The Justice ExChange
We interviewed nine members of the Justice ExChange (six men and three women) who have served custodial sentences ranging from a few weeks to 14 years. Between them, they have spent in excess of 50 years in over 30 prisons (both public and private), in a range of establishments including the youth estate, all categories of men’s prisons and both open and closed prisons in the women’s estate.
Our response
Our response highlights the following from the perspective of people who have been to prison:
The role of the governor: The people we interviewed would like to see more visibility of Governors and senior leaders as they believe that openness and accessibility creates trust and a more human and caring environment within prisons and encourages positive attitudes and behaviours.
What makes a ‘good’ prison officer: a good prison officer is consistent and well-informed; has respect and honesty; has people skills and life experience; is empathetic and has a caring attitude; is approachable and has a willingness to listen.
“Staff have to be approachable with good people skills and need empathy. They have to be willing to take time to listen and they have to care. If they are just there for the pay cheque then it is obvious to a prisoner, it’s easy to see that they couldn’t care less. If there was a good officer, I’d wait for them to be working so I can ask them things, but they are few and far between. There is a lack of experience in the staff – life experience as well experience as an officer.” Member of Nacro’s Justice ExChange
The ‘culture’ of a prison: People see the culture of a prison being influenced by a range of actors, including the people who are imprisoned, staff on the wings who have daily interactions and all levels of management. Staff shortages are seen to significantly impact on prison culture and the people we interviewed believe it is important for senior staff to have the autonomy to make bold decisions. Good communication and listening to and working with people in prison positively contributes to the culture. A focus on rehabilitation also helps to create a good culture as it is focused on people’s futures.
“Prisons need to set a culture and environment for prisoners to thrive. Individuals high up in prisons need to be empowered and brave to put forward programmes that engage and help prisoners to succeed.” Member of Nacro’s Justice ExChange
We are grateful to the Justice ExChange members for their generosity in sharing with us their experiences during their time in prison for this response.