Health & Safety Considerations
in
Working with Offenders
Dr. Craig Jackson
Prof. Occupational Health Psychology
Head of Psychology
Birmingham City University
School of Social Sciences
Faculty of Education, Law & Social Sciences
Contradiction of locked doors
Prisons within HM Prison
Service are one of the most
unique environments in
existence
Prisons are unlike any other
legislated workplace
Primary aim is to protect the
public and keep prisoners in a
secure, decent and humane
environment
Complexities of Prison H&S
Offenders & those working with them
Hard to preserve H&S perfectly
Many types of offender
Difficult
Both secure and non-secure settings
Many types of sentence
Offender work: physical & psychological effects
Prisons Act (1865)
Hard bed, board and labour
Pointless labour as punishment
Gladstone Committee 1895
Prisoners should leave as better people
Punitive labour replaced with learning a trade
Prisoners allowed to earn a wage
"Own clothes" & haircuts allowed
Shaved heads phased out
Better visiting facilities
Education and libraries in all prisons
Incentives and earned privilege schemes
Care vs. Custody
Contribute to safe & secure custody
Prepare reports in a timely manner
Comply with audit requirements
Follow procedures for prisoner applications
Apply authorised control and restraint
Encourage prisoners in offending behaviour treatment progs
Uphold respect for prisoners' rights, dignity and property
Act as personal office for groups of prisoners
Modern Prison Officers
Prison Lawyer
Communicator
Counsellor (various)
Teacher
Manager
Security expert
Historian
Health and Safety Advisor
Psychosocial Environment
Emotional demands
Low supervisory support
Role conflict
High "client" contact
Exposure to violence & threats
Unpleasant work
Overcrowding (61%)
Prisons and YOIs
160 in England and Wales
11"private prisons"
Maximum security
Training establishments
Satellite camps
86,000 prisoners
Offenders wishing to commit violence to others
and officers make total prevention impossible
Thankless task with little acknowledgement
Variety of Sentencing
Many workers will have contact with offenders
A. Custodial services
B. Offender management or rehab
C. Workplace experience
"Community" Sentencing
Attend School
Community payback (40-300 hrs)
Completion of job training
Complete a treatment programme (anger, drugs)
Avoid activities (pubs, football)
Curfew (electronic tag)
Residence sentence (specified, approved premises)
Receive mental health treatment
Supervision sentence
Attendance training (18-24 yrs)
Jackson 2011
Working Prisons are not new
"It is important that the
prisoner is correctly assessed
and passed fit only for work
which is within his mental and
physical capacity. We have to .
. . ensure that no prisoner
suffers injury through being
ordered to do unsuitable
work."
HK Snell 1953
Work
Work in prison is part of
rehabilitation, not the
punishment
Suitability for work
assessed upon reception
Workshops & activity
units
Working
Textiles
Printing
Engineering
Data entry
Woodwork
Assembly
Desktop publishing
CAD
Catering
Cleaning
Building
West Mids Probation Service
Two Wood Workshops
HSE Improvement notices
in 2002 & 2003
1) Lack of COSHH
assessment for wood dust
2) Use of Workplace
Equipment Regs (1998)
Notices complied with
Improvements made
Social Undesirability Bias
Society willing to accept
unsatisfactory level of
H&S for offenders
Work is NOT the
punishment
Work-related illness is
NOT the punishment
Post English Riots
vengefulness
Health & Safety Concerns: NPS
2001; 20,000 staff; 42 area boards
Few Health & Safety risk assessments of work
Only ad hoc inspections
Health & Safety training minimal
Few areas with trained / competent staff or FAs
Few Health & Safety committees
No H&S guidance for supervision of offenders
HSE Home Office case study 2005
Stress in HMP "London"
N 1038 HMP staff London region
Managers, Officer grades, Admin
Domains of HSE Mgt Stds linked to Wellbeing (OR)
Demands (3.2)
Control (3.3)
Support (manager (3.5) then peer (3.7)
Relationships (3.7)
Role (4.2)
Change (3.0)
Bevan et al 2010
Stress in HMP "London"
Item on HSE tool
OR
Job role uncertainty
9.8
Knowing how to get job done
6.8
Emotional support
6.5
Too much to do
6.2
Unrealistic time pressures
6.2
Different demands placed on me
6.0
College respect
5.7
Clear about departmental objectives
5.7
Bevan et al 2010
Personality Disorders
1% of gen. pop. have PD
50% - 75% prisoners
have PD diagnosis
Current concern for
public services
Vicarious Trauma in
some therapists &
officers
Personality Disorder Concerns
Medium Secure unit for offenders
Staff concerns from...
"Desire for more meaningful contact"
"Contradictory attitude to openness"
"Feeling physically safe / emotionally vulnerable"
"Ambivalence to structure and control"
"Emphasis on staff relationships"
Kurtz & Turner 2007
Vicarious Trauma
Working with sex offenders
Intrusive thoughts
Avoidance behaviours
Hyper-vigilance
Highest levels reported in secure settings
Not related to treatment type, caseload, or
previous trauma
Moulden & Firestone 2007
Vicarious Trauma
Proactive "Talking Therapies"
Health effects of high profile murder investigations
Soham murders:
SIO Chris Stevenson
James Bulger murder:
SIO Albert Kirkby
Ipswich ripper murders:
SIO Roy Lambert
Team of 47 detectives
Cromwell Street murders:
SIO John Bennett
Some accepted – others did not
Proactive "Stress Counselling”
Upon retirement . . .
Severe Fatigue
NOT Chronic Fatigue
Syndrome
Inability to function
physically & mentally
3% prevalence across working population
"Burnout" - severe fatigue response to chronic stress
Occurs more in psychologically "vulnerable" staff .
.
. . . . . Working in conditions they find stressful.
Unusual Tribunal Cases
Tail-Wagg-Dog Atmosphere
Fire starting
Revenge
Unintentional
Delusion
Erotic pleasure
Pyromania-fetish
Institutionalised
Crime concealment
Excitement
Attention-seeking
Mental disorder
Political
Terrorism
Self-immolation
Attempted suicide
Financial
Vandalism
Lewis & Yarnell 1951; Incardi 1970;
Prins 1985; Rix 1994
Fire
Fire
11 deaths from cell fires in the 1980s
3 deaths in 1990s
5 deaths in 2000s
Violence
121% increase in assaults on female prison
officers since 2000
From 232 assaults to 513
58% increase in attacks on male officers
From 1,767 in 2000 to 2,804 in 2006
Violence
Suicide
24 prisoner deaths in the prison
estate of England & Wales in
January 2012
Most natural causes
11 of these were suicidal deaths
Many more attempted it but were
not successful
Suicide-Prevention is ineffective
Suicide-prevention training for prison officers
"Arming" officers with cutting tools at all times
Fostering an attitude of duty of care in the officers
Prisons are suicidogenic environments
Isolation, stress, & bleakness create a suicidespace
Prisoners listeners of limited value
RIASEC Model
Relates to both PERSONALITY and ENVIRONMENT
"Realistic"
Doer
"Conventional"
Organiser
"Enterprising"
Persuader
"Investigative"
Thinker
"Artistic”
Creator
"Social"
Helper
Holland 1997
"Realistics"
Practical individuals
Conformist
Ordered
Prefer objects and tools
Not keen on concepts or abstracts
Heuristics-driven
Mechanic, Labourer, Driver
Holland 1997
RIASEC Model
Relates to both PERSONALITY and ENVIRONMENT
things
"Realistic"
Doer
"Conventional"
Organiser
"Investigative"
Thinker
ideas
"Artistic”
Creator
data
"Enterprising"
Persuader
"Social"
Helper
people
Prediger's dimensions
Summary
Prisons have gone through many dramatic shifts,
and will continue to do so
Prison officers subjected to usual job stressors,
AND unique issues caused by the nature of work
Health and well being adversely affected by the
work and change
Psychosocial thinking & mapping for future
officers in selection and training