What makes a good prison officer. According to people who have been in prison.

We asked our participants (all of whom have spent time in prison) what sets a “good” prison officer apart from the rest. Their reflections formed the basis of our response to the government’s inquiry into prison culture.

Back in November, the House of Lords’ Justice and Home Affairs Committee launched an inquiry into prison culture: governance, leadership and staffing. They asked, “What makes a “good” prison officer from the perspective of prisoners?” – with the aim of understanding how relationships between prisoners and staff affect the experience of those in the prison system. 

This is a great question, and one we knew that our participants in the community would have a lot to say about. It’s something we feel strongly about too. We know how important relationships are – they underpin our coaching approach, empowering people to transform their lives. 

We decided to speak with participants, making their views the focus of our submission. This blog sets out the key themes of those conversations. Revisiting memories of prison isn’t easy, and so we’re grateful to those who gave up their time to share their insights. 

It’s complicated

It’s important to start off by saying that our participants felt that – just as there are different types of prisoners, there are different types of prison officers; some are better than others. There’s good practice and bad practice, and participants had seen both. They believed that most officers join the prison service with good intentions; wanting to make a difference to people’s lives and understanding that people in prison are often there due to very complex situations. 

They were clear on one thing, that a good prison officer is a prison officer who has the time, training, experience and willingness to build relationships with prisoners on a human level. A major issue, therefore, is staff shortages, which mean that staff are often short on time, undertrained, not present in sufficient numbers for the day-to-day activities of the prison to take place, and not always a good fit for the role. 

A good prison officer is consistent

Since officers have so little time, there’s often no consistency in how people in prison are treated. Those who shout loudest or who have been there the longest get more attention from officers – not those who are quieter or more polite. This is frustrating for those who aren’t able to advocate for themselves and means that people learn that good behaviour doesn’t necessarily bring good results. 

“A good prison officer is someone with enough time, and someone who treats people consistently and gives everybody the same opportunity – treats them equally and gives people a chance to prove themselves.” 

A good prison officer is experienced

Staff shortages have led to higher levels of inexperienced officers. Some new officers were visibly ill-prepared and were not familiar with the regime, how to deal with certain situations, or the education, training or work opportunities available at the prison. This felt worrying to some, who thought that – as one participant put it – new officers had been “thrown in at the deep end and left to fend for themselves”. 

A good prison officer sees the individual

There was a consensus that a good prison officer is someone who isn’t there just to lock and unlock doors but takes the time to talk to and build relationships with prisoners. One person said: “What makes a good prison officer is someone who doesn’t see prisoners as just being convicts and numbers and somebody who actually sees them as people with problems.” The good prison officers are the ones who intentionally get to know the people on their wing, passing the time in a more positive way and making prisoners feel safe and able to open up about their problems. 

A good prison officer listens

Participants spoke of the sense of frustration they felt when, in response to a question to a prison officer they were met with a ‘no’ or an ‘I don’t know’. It was suggested that better for the officer-prisoner relationship would be a ‘no, because’ – indicating that the prisoner had been heard and understood – or an ‘I don’t know, but I will find out’ – indicating that the officer is interested in supporting them.  

“Being listened to is everything in there.” 

A good prison officer builds trust

At the heart of it all is an officer’s ability to build trust. That can start with the small things, like officers doing what they say they'll do. When you’re in prison, it’s impossible to do things for yourself and so, following up on something is one of the small ways in which officers can build trust. Over time, these actions build positive relationships and can start to change culture for the better.

Relationship building is the foundation of the StandOut programme, and so we weren’t surprised by our participants’ reflections. We’re privileged to be able to bring these ways of working into prison; being consistent, treating people as individuals, and listening so that people feel heard. These skills are developed intentionally through our rigorous coach training, and they build trust in StandOut. We know it really makes a difference, and it could for officer-prisoner relationships too. We look forward to the committee’s report and will be interested to see how closely the insights of our participants align.

To read our full response and list of recommendations, click here.