I work in a mens prison AMA

[CrispAura]

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

Do you get an Alpha Male/ Big Boss type, like Grouty in Portidge, who everyone is scared of and sucks up to?

@AnnaMagnanithat's interesting thank you. It might sound a bit mean to be asking but it turns out its this person's 4th sentence (for stealing a lot of other people's £ for years)

Glad I'm not the only one whose insight into prisons is based on Porridge

That is exactly the sort of person you get in a Cat B local - lots of short sentences, in and out like a regular.

Watching these True Crime shows, there seems to be a trend in "type" of young men who are gym buffs killing partners or girls who reject them. Do you think the steroid epidemic sweeping tik-tok and social media is leading to a loss of self-control in young men who otherwise wouldn't have committed offences linked to the heightened aggression and hormonal fluctuations/excessive jealousy and rage these drugs cause? I haven't seen any proper studies on this which I find interesting as it seems to be correlated to the rise in femicide.

Not rtft so apologies if these have already been asked but my first question is do the men try to flirt/flatter you (to gain privileges etc)? and my second is: who is the most "notorious" crim you have met and did they give off the same "vibe" as their reputation?

Very interesting thread OP thanks

I've been in prisons doing other jobs but not working as a prison guard. The vast majority of the guards seemed tired and stressed. I've been in men's and women's. Quite often been asked to pat myself down or not been searched. The company were very worried and checked multiple times I was in going into a prison but I know I've worked with a lot of people who have been in prison and don't see the difference.

I'm currently working with someone who served 3 years for attacking someone with a weapon. It seems so odd though as he's pretty quiet and I thought he seemed calm and gentle compared to some on site. I think I'd be a rubbish prison guard as I'm far too trusting of people and think I'd struggle keeping that distance.

They put up more netting over the wings to prevent drones. TBH we don't have a problem with drone drops any more

Yeah, I do. These peoe live in a completely different place to most people

No. Women are either Mad or Bad. Not something I would go to

I would not recommend it as a career now. I can't leave as I have my pension tied up. I have to just stick it out!

I have a friend who was a deputy prison governor, and then was a prison chaplain for 20 years. She said that some (not all of course) of the most decent people she had met were people who had done time. She said that they were not bad people, they had just made very bad choices. They were very respectful with her and genuinely wanted to change and have a better life once released. Obviously these weren't the sex offenders and murderers.
Do you sometimes agree?

Yes! I am very wary of men as I have seen the very worst that they can offer. They confide in me too, about their life, their girlfriends, their family. Men can be so vile.

They only let out those who fit the criteria. They certainly don't let out violent or sex offenders early.

How many hours a day can the prisoners work, and how many hours are they locked up for?

How much can they spend a week on snacks, etc (or "canteen" I think it's known by?)

How many visits can they have a month?

Well they have been known to bring drugs in for cons. It's not unheard of!

That’s very interesting. It suggests that in your category the prisoners are neither? Sounds like, people who had a start in life way below baseline, kept facing obstacles, didn’t have the resources to cope? Why do you think there are less women prisoners like this, and have you encountered Mad/ Bad prisoners you felt should have been elsewhere (in MH,in Broadmoor?)

I always gave the sex offenders exactly what they were entitled to. Nothing more nothing less. We know what they have done, we treat them with complete disdain. They are pieces of shit on our boots and they know we hate them. The stories I could tell would make your hair curl. Believe me when I say, you would not want to know what these specimens would do to women and children.

Lucky us that we are so naive.

Thanks to OP for doing this hard job x

I have. It was a fantastic place to work 20 years ago, now not so much. Too many young girls in their 20s, with hair extensions, false nails and duck lips. I mean, why is this job attractive to girls lik that? They clearly have an agenda of meeting a bad boy and wanting adulation of the wrong sort. It makes my job more difficult and everyone is put in danger aren't they? All the experienced Officers have gone or gone sick and never came back.

No.

They have kettles to make hot drinks or pot noodles. Unfortunately it gets used to kettle someone. Prison is a shit place to be and there are horrible people about. My advice is, don't get mixed up with horrible people.

Are you female?

We try, but there are always going to be phones. Some prisoners just want to talk to family, some prisoners want to run their drug empire. We win some we lose some.