Picture a prison officer encountering an upset prisoner. They can respond instinctively or intentionally.

An ordinary person parachuted into the role – untrained and inexperienced – would respond instinctively. The prisoner shouts – they shout back. The prisoner won’t listen – they assert their authority and issue sanctions. The prisoner says they can’t change – the officer gives up.

An officer responding intentionally would draw on a repertoire of strategies, guided by their principles. The prisoner shouts – they maintain emotional constancy, defusing tension. The prisoner won’t listen – they blend warmth with firmness, and emphasise their purpose, not their power. The prisoner says they can’t change – the officer listens actively, challenges their thinking, and helps the prisoner commit to change.

What impact does this intentional, strategic approach have? Moment to moment, the differences may be subtle. Cumulatively, they can transform the landing, the officer’s experience, and prisoners’ lives.

This post shows how strategies for effective prison work fit together, and what impact they have. We’ll look at a day on the wing through the eyes of two prison officers. Mo works carefully, but when challenged, he responds instinctively. Mike works intentionally, drawing on the range of strategies described in Leading prison landings.

A day on the wing

For Mo, the day starts as he unlocks cell doors. He’s careful to unlock each door correctly, following procedures to keep himself safe and check prisoners are well. Prisoners’ reactions vary. Some are silent and barely responsive. Mo has to assume they’re OK. One prisoner, Jimmy, complains about his former cellmate being moved and asks a barrage of questions about who will be moved there next. Another responds to Mo’s “Morning,” with a volley of swearing. Each prisoner needs something, Mo realises, to get them going into the day properly. But he has no idea how he would begin to meet their needs.

As Mike unlocks the doors, he uses the time he has to say something personal to each prisoner. For some it’s just a quick question: “Did you sleep better?” or “How’s your hand this morning?” For others, it’s a reminder: “Best behaviour today before the parole hearing later OK,” he offers one prisoner with a smile (Warm/firm, Strategy 7). Neil is worried about who will be moved into his cell. Mike asks him a couple of Socratic questions (Strategy 18) to redirect his thinking: “Had you thought you might like your new cellmate more?” and “What can you do to make the move go well?” He seems placated, and so Mike sets him a goal (Strategy 21): “Can you plan one thing you’re going to do to make him feel welcome?” Mike can’t give every prisoner the time he’d want, but this brief check-in sets prisoners up for the day, and tells him who he needs to find time for or keep an eye on later on.

The morning passes rapidly, and it’s soon time to lock the prisoners away again. As ever, they are unwilling to go. Mo spots one prisoner disappear into the showers just as he has begun trying to move prisoners in the right direction. Mo approaches prisoners one-by-one, beginning with those he knows are more compliant. He keeps his tone friendly, but some prisoners walk away grinning. Others keep chatting, or wander off on urgent errands. Mo is tired and frustrated: he needs his lunch. Having asked nicely several times – “Can you please get back to your cells?” – he approaches a group who are still chatting. As their laughter gets louder, he raises his voice. “Get back in your cells now, it is time for you to be gone, I’m in charge around here.” He approaches a prisoner with his hands in front of him. When the prisoner doesn’t move, Mo puts his hand on his shoulder. “Get off me man, I’m going, and I’ll be complaining about you.” Mo sighs, and keeps going.

Across the landing, Mike encounters the same reluctance. Like Mo, he begins with a friendly request. But he uses assertive body language (Strategy 2) and strong voice (Strategy 3) to project calm, clear confidence and authority. Prisoners don’t rush back to their cells. But his tone tells them he’s serious and in control. His words remain friendly, “Come on, time to get away lads,” but as he approaches three
prisoners who haven’t moved, he adopts a more formal tone (Code switching, Strategy 5). “Gentlemen, I need you behind your doors now, thank you.” The prisoners offer each other a quick fist bump, and head for their cells. The landing is clear, and Mike breathes deeply and relaxes.

Mo has a keyworker meeting with Raj in the afternoon. Raj is fairly new to the wing, and Mo has been too busy to see much of him between meetings. Mo finds the meetings a bit of a struggle: he doesn’t seem to get much that’s meaningful out of Raj. Raj talks about one thing and then another, but Mo isn’t quite sure where it’s meant to be leading. Mo lets him talk, and uses the time to run his eyes down some of the forms he needs to get filled in. Eventually, Raj comes to the point. He’s fed up with his current job and wants another one – but he knows he’s going to struggle with his current record. “Sorry mate, not much we can do is there,” Mo offers. “If you bide your time, we’ll see what comes up.” Raj leaves dissatisfied.

As Mo goes to lock up, Mike appears. Mo holds the door to allow Mike in for a keyworker meeting with Rick. Mike has kept his eye on Rick since becoming his keyworker. This week he has noticed Rick helping a new prisoner on the wing to steer clear of trouble and keep his head down. Mike begins with a positive comment, mentioning what he’s noticed and emphasising that it’s good for the prisoner and the wing as a whole (Precise praise, Strategy 22). Next, Mike asks Rick about his week. As Rick talks, Mike listens actively (Strategy 17), giving him his full attention. This elicits a worry about Rick’s next visit with his partner and kids. Mike helps Rick pick out some positive things he could do (Negative to positive, Strategy 19). They plan out what Rick is going to do, and how he’s going to prepare to make the visit a good one (Setting goals, Strategy 21).

Just before the end of their shift, there’s some kind of disturbance. Mo and Mike approach from opposite directions, but Mo gets there first. Two prisoners are shouting at each other. Their faces are close together, and each has clenched fists. “What’s going on?” Mo asks. “He’s a fool, that’s what’s going on,” one offers. Mo is tired and frustrated. “You’re the fool: I’m in charge here, and I want a proper answer.” Both men turn on him.

Mike is equally tired as he reaches the growing group. “Right everyone, fun’s over, back to your cells,” he says. “But we’ve got ten minutes,” someone complains, “This is out of order, why do you always pick on us?” Mike refuses to rise to the bait, and stays calm (Emotional constancy, Strategy 10). Mo starts saying “You do as your told, you don’t run this place.” But Mike cuts over him, emphasising why he’s doing it: “I think it’d be better for everyone if we had an early night tonight,” (Purpose not power, Strategy 5). As prisoners start to drift away, Mike asks Mo to start locking up.

Mike asks the two prisoners who were arguing to head to different ends of the landing (Create space to de-escalate, Strategy 12). He speaks briefly to each of them hearing their grievances (Identify wants, Strategy 13), and offers soothing words recognising their frustration (Tactical agreement, Strategy 14). Mike emphasises that they can’t behave like this (Clarify expectations, Strategy 15) and asks them whether they can settle things themselves, or whether he needs to sit down with them to talk it through more fully tomorrow morning (Give choices, Strategy 16). Realising that this will take a chunk of their time out of their cells tomorrow, both agree there won’t be a recurrence. Mike finishes the day tired but satisfied. On the way home, he thinks of a couple of things that have gone well and picks one thing to do differently tomorrow (Sustain yourself, Strategy 24). By the time he hits the shower at home, he feels totally relaxed.

Conclusion

These strategies can have a big impact on the landing. They’re not a magic wand – but they do help prison officers address the challenges they face more effectively. We hope Leading prison landings will make it easier for officers to adopt the strategies, and so take a more effective, intentional approach.

We encourage you to review the strategies: test them, apply them, improve upon them. They should make prison landings better places for prisoners and officers alike.

If you found this interesting…

You may appreciate the book: Leading prison landings: the Unlocked guide to jailcraft.

Previous posts explained how and why the book codifies effective prison work, the principles of effective prison work, and the 24 strategies.