I work in a mens prison AMA

[CrispAura]

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

It's the use of the word itself to describe a woman. I find the word repellent. It's the worst kind of misogyny and really only used by the hard of thinking.

How is it like an Irish prison exactly? bigoted comment.

She probably meant Northern Irish, plus Portlaoise.

Mmm no, that's not what she meant. it was a reference to a KFC box/bomb disposal and its being somehow Irish. Would like the OP to reply here.

Officer stashed his lunchtime chicken box under his car in the prison car park. Box was spotted and reported to security as a possible bomb.

OP commented that wouldn't happen at her establishment: presumably, they don't have bomb checks there. Speculated that bomb checks might still be routine at Irish prisons.

I've just looked this up: police officers in Northern Ireland are still expected to check for car bombs, so OP perhaps wasn't too far wrong.

ETA: I've realised that most Mumsnetters probably don't remember having to be on constant bomb alert (in England) so this may not have been as readily understandable to younger readers. You'd have to be pretty daft to be unaware of continued hostilities in Northern Ireland, though.

Yes, I think you’re right - but young woukd do, no? It’s always interesting on threads about any uncommon or unseen experience what language people default to. When people use standard government terminology like that it seems very transactional and it always makes me wonder what their relationships with the population they work with are really like.

not my thread so please excuse me for answering, I will remove if necessary - As a visitor you cannot take anything in except a bank card or change for vending machine and the key for your locker. You also cannot wear hoody’s or anything that could be deemed controversial. You go through a metal detector and you also get searched. People can still try and pass stuff to prisoners in the visiting room if they’ve got it through but you are watched constantly. Drones deliver illegal stuff but I imagine there are other ways. There’s restrictions as to what you can send prisoners and even a letter or card is photocopied in case it’s impregnated with something like spice.

That's why I said Portlaoise (which houses dissident republicans in the ROI) plus NI.
I am not surprised NI prison officers still check under their cars. I know somebody (now retired) who was a prison officer here. They were/are considered "legitimate targets" by terrorist groups- so basically viewed the same as RUC/PSNI or soldiers. My friend checked under his car every day (maybe still does), and I would ring him when I was at his house- he wouldn't unlock the door to a knock. He could have been issued a gun to keep off duty for personal protection but chose not to.

https://m.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/prison-officer-adrian-ismay-dies-after-belfast-dissident-republican-bomb-attack/34541548.html

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_David_Black

Exactly. As if men are never corrupt in a men’s prison, or in a women’s prison for that matter. The press love a corrupt young female officer because her picture will sell stories. But some grotesque corruption by male staff over the last few years, including by men who’ve joined the prison service to commit crime.

True. I guess my question is more like: how does dealing with people who have developed ASPD compare to dealing with people who have caused harm but who feel guilt and remorse.

I've been trying not to reply to you on this, but I do find your point rather odd. Prison officers obviously call underage inmates 'young offenders' because that's the professional term. It kind of jars that you're worrying this phrase after the OP used it in a post expressing compassion for their parents.

Surely it's equivalent to nurses/doctors referring to 'patients' and retail staff talking about 'customers'?

It was precisely because it was jarring to me in that context that I mentioned it. I think I said that already. The professional term is more commonly young people or YPs, in my experience, and so to call someone a young offender whilst also expressing a sense that it could be anyone. Patients or customers are at that moment being patients or customers. The person in prison is a young prisoner but unless they’re committing an offence right now, it always seems weird to me to call them an offender in perpetuity. There’s been a lot of discussion about this in the sector in the context of relational development and rehabilitation. It just felt odd to me for someone to express compassion and yet use a word that has become a bit debatable.

I don’t want to derail someone’s AMA thread any more than I already might have.

No, just 'young' wouldn't work because the point was about parents visiting their young offender children, as opposed to just their young adult children who aren't locked up somewhere. This is a parenting forum not a forum about people with relatives in prison, so that's why it got mentioned as appropriate found the context.

You seem determined to read this as showing up something unsavoury about the poster, but I'll finish my own derail by repeating that it didn't come across that way at all to me.

Maybe from "The bomb squad were heading over from the mainland" ?
Google AI tells me that 4 prisons in the british isles are on islands, but I only knew about IoW.
This is a great thread. I hope the OP comes back soon.

what sort of proportion of inmates have had serious childhood abuse ?

And that’s great, we’re allowed to interpret things differently. I’ve already said I don’t think there was any malice intended, it just seemed odd.

I was going to add that I find being a listener is very popular with the dv perps and those who have needed to groom others as part of their offence. They like the power, knowing people's secrets. They then like telling me that they have seen everyone's release licences and im being mean to them.
I find its easier to separate what they say from what they do. Yes, loads have horrendous upbringings, but they have been found guilty of an offence. Does their behaviour after sentencing show they have changed?

Kept safe in their prison wallet! Or so they think!

Which prison do you work in??tiny number?

You say that, but as soon as its known that tidy book shelves and certain books are something important to you, you've given a bully the ammo they need to make your life miserable. Its not a retreat. Prison is full of damaged, manipulative and sometimes addicted people

Nope nothing. More prisoners let out early now and not enough probation staff to manage them

Apologies op i feel like im treading all over your post.

I've had people spike drinks out of spite. To wreck the persons chance of being released by the parole board. I've seen people take drugs to wreck their chances infront of the parole board as they have become institutionalised

Many years ago when I was doing postgrad we had Prof Phil Scraton (a high profile criminologist) come and give us a lecture, and he told us the vast majority of women in our local prison were in for not having a TV license. It utterly terrified me and I've been in 'I must prepare for prison mode' ever since!

Yes, I'm wondering too.

There’s just no evidence supporting it. MoJ data states that in 2019, two people received a custodial sentence for non-payment of TV license (or more specifically, wilful refusal to pay the fine resulting from non-payment of TV license.) In 2020 and 2021, no people did. In 2022, 2023, and 2024, fewer than five people per year did. The sentencing guidelines did change in 2018 to make more precise the definition of wilful refusal; but even so, between 1994-2018, only 754 women received a custodial sentence for wilful non-payment - or an average of 32 per year; so there would never have been a time when even a significant number, let alone the vast majority, of women in any prison were there as a result of that offence.