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When
I first started work as a psychologist at the local prison
there were two consecutive Friday afternoons when I was
called to the management unit, the section of the prison
with single cells for containing prisoners within the
prison. The need for this unit varies and includes punishment
for offences in the prison, being under investigation
for alleged offences inside the prison, being in need
of protection from other prisoners, or protection from
themselves in the case of suspected suicide or self harm
behaviour. On both occasions a prisoner who had been locked
in one of these cells had plastered his faeces all over
the unit. |
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I
was asked to talk to them (through a trapdoor in the door,
measuring approximately 10 centimetres by 40 centimetres,
not enough room to put your whole face to) and 'calm him
down', with three officers in full riot gear behind me
in the unlikely event that the prisoners could miraculously
burst through the trapdoor. Talking under these circumstances
is not easy but in both cases, once I was able to talk
to the prisoners and tell them that if they cleaned up
the cells I could talk properly and we could perhaps work
out some solutions to their current problems, both prisoners
agreed, cleaned up, and were able to talk with me and
resolve a number of problems. |
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Other
staff kept saying, 'How can they do it? Why do they do
it?', but I thought the answers were obvious. The prisoners
were using the only power they had and with limited resources
and means to gain attention they had succeeded in wielding
some power. Desperate measures, but simply attempts to
gain some power over their situation. |
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Several
studies have shown that the more control we have in our
lives, the more likely we are to be healthy and to function
effectively. This is a major issue in prison today. One
of the aims of the Victorian (state) criminal justice
system is to reduce recidivism rates (currently at around
sixty-five percent), and while there are many ways to
do this, one of the key areas is working with prisoners
during their sentence. A significant aspect of this work
involves teaching prisoners how to take control of their
lives, and responsibility for themselves, increasingly
in relation to drug use. Prison is, in itself, a disempowering
process, and daily life in prison is based on an unequal
balance of power between those in charge and those incarcerated.
It is difficult for those without power to practice taking
control of themselves and their lives. Too often we release
these men without helping them learn any useful strategies
of control or power, but with an attitude which is anti-society,
and a failure to understand how they are responsible for
their own lives.
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