Unlocked Conference 2020: frog rearing, Schwartz Rounds, and prisoner insights
By: Jamie Morrell
Tags: Prison Reform, Criminal Justice, Policy, Prisons

The Unlocked Graduates programme trains university leavers as prison officers in a bid to bring fresh thinking into prisons. I attended the Unlocked Conference last week to learn more about the work of prison officers and how they are driving change on the frontlines.

It was a grey and dreary day, but there was a feeling of warmth and energy inside the auditorium of the Library of Birmingham as I waited for the conference to begin.

The crowd was mostly made up of the trainee prison officers, but there were also academics, representatives from criminal justice organisations, and individuals with lived experience.

The keynote speech was delivered by Dan Pacholke, a former secretary of the Washington State Department of Corrections with decades of experience within prisons.

Dan highlighted that the US incarcerates more people than any other nation in the world. Prisons are, in fact, the number one provider of mental health services in the US. He calls it the ‘last social safety net’, stating that in the best prisons, many individuals receive the help and care that they so desperately needed in the community.

Dan founded the Sustainability in Prisons Project while serving as the Superintendent of the Cedar Creek Corrections Center. Under this scheme, prisoners were involved in conservation activities such as recycling, composting, and rainwater catchment systems. This not only enabled cost savings within the prison but gave the men a sense of purpose and an opportunity to payback the community. Prisoners also worked with scientists to rear endangered frogs and butterflies, as well as contributing the community by providing services such as wheelchair repair.

Dan finished his talk with advice for the new prison officers; seek expert help from both inside and outside the prison to build new programmes, make use of data, and do not let organisational heads stifle innovation.

After lunch, I attended a range of seminars delivered by Unlocked Graduates. Laura Polley, who now lectures in criminology at the University of Suffolk, spoke about delays in mental health treatment for prisoners. Guidance states that prisoners suffering a mental health crisis should be transferred to a secure unit within two weeks, but some wait as long as 20 weeks. Laura gained support from prison management and external agencies and used resources already in place to offer gym and educational sessions to improve mental health. Prison officers were involved in delivering many of these sessions, such as yoga classes, and enjoyed them as much as the prisoners did.

The next seminar I attended stayed with me long after it had ended. Three prison officers shared some of the most difficult moments from their time in prisons in what is called a ‘Schwartz Round’. Schwartz Rounds originated in hospitals as a way for staff to express the social and emotional effects of working in healthcare. The purpose of a Schwartz Round is not to solve problems, but simply to understand the challenges and rewards involved in the work.

After the three prison officers shared their honest and raw stories, members of the audience shared back. There was a feeling of compassion and emotion in the room as prison officers and governors opened up about their experiences. I was struck by the commitment of the prison officers, who often do a tough and important job with little public recognition.

The day ended with a panel of individuals with lived experience of prisons, led by the formidable Paula Harriot, Head of Prisoner Engagement at the Prison Reform Trust. The panel members said that their experience of prison officers had been mostly negative, but also described to the graduates what makes a ‘good prison officer’; someone who listens to concerns, helps to progress applications, and brightens the day of a prisoner.

On the train back to London that evening, I reflected on the potential to influence cultural change — on the wings and landings and more widely — by giving officers the opportunity to make external connections with charities and universities, to hear about examples of innovation from the UK and overseas, as well as learning from those with lived experience of prison. I thoroughly enjoyed the Unlocked Conference and look forward to attending similar events in the future.