I work in a mens prison AMA

[CrispAura]

Send me a question, and I will try to answer as honestly as possible

Really, you would have found it confusing without that? Come on…

I don’t think it was meant as a slight, I think that language indicates someone who sees those children as ‘young offenders’, and that seemed at odds with the rest of the sentence. Hence the question.

On recommendation of this thread I watched Time last night very good
is it true that some areas of prisons are self governing by Islam and are a no go area for prison staff

I assumed the PP was specifying "young offender" as opposed to parents coming in to visit sons who might be in their late twenties or thirties. In other words she was making the same point you are, but using standard prison terminology.

I had seen an article that stated that the proportion of prisoners with ADHD, ASD, learning disabilities was much higher than the non-prison population, and that the vast majority of those were undiagnosed. What do you think could be done within the prison service to manage/support those prisoners and do you think it would help reduce reoffending rates?

Not my thread, but I did voluntary work in a local Cat B a few years ago, and my area was education. The Education Manager told me that 70% of the men inside had been excluded from school at some point.

As much as the prison staff want to help/rehabilitate, they’re often dealing with behaviour that’s been poorly managed and become utterly ingrained from a young age.

I felt then, and still feel that so much offending might be avoided if behavioural and other issues are dealt with as soon as they present at school/home. (I’ve also been a school governor, so I know that it’s easier said than done.)

edited for typo.

Martin Narey has given some great presentations and written some great articles on this. His route into becoming Barnardo’s CEO was via his long career in the prison service, and the realisation that by the time somebody has reached the point of interaction with the criminal justice system, they’re usually there through a whole heap of failures to identify learning difficulties, address disengagement with education and low expectations of schools for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds, and tackle poor parenting and a chaotic home life.

I've always wanted to be a prison officer. Do you think I'm too old at 46 to become one?

My DH said that he thinks the women who work in prisons and date/shag/smuggle things in for the prisoners are exploiting them.

I think it's the other way round, the women are being exploited by the criminals.

What do you think about this? And why do you think there's been an increase of women seemingly getting jobs in prisons solely to find a boyfriend?

Thank you!

Absolutely not too old. Your life experience will really help. I've worked with PO'S who came into the profession in late 50's, early 60's.

Someone I know (but am not really friends with) is a PO in a man's remand prison and has oppenly bragged about how she smuggles Class A drugs into the prison. Some of her colleagues know about this and have been on holidays with her where they have taken cocain together but don't seem to care. Is this something that happens often or just a particularly corrupt prison?

Fascinating thread, plz come back OP. As an aside my french cousin is a prison chaplain and describes much the same situation in prisons there ( or worse). Worsening tension and violence. The murder of a prison guard in her own home ordered by convicts. High rates of mental illness, frequent lockdowns. He thinks increasing use of drugs in society and the reduction in religious practice generally is a cause.

@Parsley4321 Where is your evidence for this claim? It's true that prisons have clergy of all faiths represented who make spiritual and welfare visits to prisoners. Prisons are part of part of the government, why would it be governed by a faith?

Are staff / visitors searched by metal detectors before entering the prison? How does contraband / mobile phones get into prisons?

Do prisoners work, as in building/creating things for the public? I am sure they used to make basic furniture or pottery but perhaps the cost of making that a safe process is too high to make it profitable? I just think there are so many manual labour jobs and skills that they could do without having to be "on a site" they should be put to use in that way. Or some sort of power generating gym where when they do stuff it recycles the power to keep prisons sustainable?

Yes I agree with the drugs - I feel people don't really talk about drug related crime as much as they did in the 80s and 90s and the landscape on it has changed a fair bit - as I said previously steroids seem to be simply accepted in society now, when they can be far more damaging for society than smoking pot, for example.

Searching varies depending on which prison you go to. But in a Cat A it is airport style and you can only bring in sealed drinks and clear bags.

How does contraband get in - via staff, visitors, family visits, legal visits, post, drones... Or prisoners themselves if they are going out eg to hospital appointments.

Have a look at mini or tiny smart phones - these are not normal sized phones being smuggled. Spice can be soaked into paper and then little squares of it sold once inside.

Oh OK, right, yeah, of course, it's women who are the problem. Prisons were never corrupt or problematic before women were working there. The whole place is full of male criminals and male staff but the problem is the tiny number of female staff. Fucking hell.

On the phones thing, there was a documentary a few years back about prison security and corruption. You can buy phones the size of a finger made of plastic which are secreted in the body then used for dealing drugs inside.

On French prisons, there's a rather old film now, Un Prophet, based in a french prison, bloody terrifying.

@Dippythedino asking the OP what her opinion is there has been articles written about the disproportionate conversion to Islam either for better food or under duress for protection
I’ve been successful getting a OSG role but am on month 8 of waiting for enhanced clearance a long process

I absolutely knew you would be quite happy to use language like this. Utterly horrendous.

It's an honest answer from someone experienced in working in prisons.

If you turn up in a men's prison with a fake tan, fake eyelashes, lip fillers and the works, you are signalling that:
You may be short of cash to keep up your desired designer life style
You may be available for relationships

This might not be what you mean, but it is certainly how some of the prisoners will perceive you.

I think I would have to down my sealed drink in one for fear of it being spiked by a corrupt prison officer. I find it incredible what lengths prisoners will go to to get their contraband.

No-one is going to spike your drink - there's no money in giving the drugs away for free!

I thought mobile phones would be found by metal detector. Do the small plastic ones not have any metal at all?

True. But if a prison officer was honest and not corrupt and did things by the book would they not be at risk of revenge / harm?