Northern Ireland Prison Service Corporate Governance ... - cjini

job for “security and containment”.
Another officer told Inspectors
there was too much emphasis on
rehabilitation.
4.18 A supervisory level interviewee said that
their “job was custody and containment.
If the Prison Service were looking for cuts
then they needed to look at Sky television
for prisoners in the Houses. There was a
need to look at other areas and not just
staff costs every time. It was always the
officers that need to change never the
inmates”.
4.19 Others said that officers had a “bunker
mentality” because of the number of
critical reports about the Northern
Ireland Prison Service. One supervisory
grade told Inspectors that “it was hard
to have confidence in the future when
politicians referred to prison officers as
‘damaged goods’. The future was uncertain.
What was wrong with what prison officers
were doing now? It was change for change’s
sake. What are we doing wrong?”
4.20 It would be inaccurate to suggest that
all, or most, of the officers spoken to by
Inspectors shared or subscribed to these
views and there were comments which
suggested that a number of officers saw
their role as leaning more towards
resettlement than ‘turnkey’. Indeed, the
2010 inspection of Magilligan Prison
found staff/prisoner relationships to be
generally good. However, the comments
above were illustrative of an occupational
culture that exists among some prison
officers; none of the comments made to
Inspectors were challenged by other
members of the focus groups, there
was no body language that would have
suggested to Inspectors that there was
serious disagreement or discomfort with
what was said.
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4.21 These attitudes may well be held by
staff working in other prison systems,
and have certainly been displayed by
staff in England and Wales over time.
The difference observable in Northern
Ireland is that the attitudes are openly
displayed to Inspectors.
4.22 Even within the Prison Service there
is a significant distinction made between
Maghaberry, on the one hand and
Magilligan and Hydebank Wood on the
other. The culture of Maghaberry was
judged by some outside it to be different
from the other two prisons and one
Governor had deliberately arranged
training for staff separate from
Maghaberry staff to try and lift morale
and enthusiasm and didn’t want to mix
with the Maghaberry staff, some of
whom were described as being “in a dark
and gloomy place”. Certainly the recent
inspection of Magilligan Prison painted a
very different picture of the nature of
staff/prisoner relationships. The positive
aspects of the recent Magilligan
inspection contrasted sharply with the
2009 inspection of Maghaberry in
relation to staff/prisoner engagement.
4.23 It is clear that the culture in Maghaberry
was one of security, and a lack of
engagement. Some officers consulted
as part of this inspection said that
Maghaberry had not embraced the
resettlement culture, there was no
management or performance pressure
on officers, and the officers on the
landings had not grasped the need for
interaction and engagement. Another
said the new breed was contaminated
and the culture was passed on very
quickly. “Officers got funny looks if they
used first names between staff and
prisoners”. “There were staff in
Maghaberry trying to do their work but