Prison Officers have 'remarkable and profound' role says head psychologist

Prison officers can have the 'most profound' and 'remarkable' impact out of all staff looking after the welfare of prisoners serving time at jails in Portlaoise and elsewhere, according to the Irish Prison Service Head of Psychological Services.

Emma Regan returned from the UK to work as a psychologist at the Midlands Prison in Portlaoise some years back. She now leads a team of more than 30 psychologists across jails in Ireland.

While she says she is very proud of the work being done by her team, she believes that the prison officers on the landings in Laois and elsewhere can have most impact on inmates.

"There is no doubt of the impact of a prison officer on people in custody and how life changing you can be is remarkable," she said.

Ms Regan gave the example of a officer who has responsibility of managing a landing where up to 50 prisoners may be residing.

"You are the person they say day to day. How you behave, role model and speak to people is what people in custody learn. The impact of that can be profound," she said. 

She referenced university research with young people. 

"They (former young prisoners) said the people who influenced them the most and had the most impact were not psychologists, teachers or chaplains but were actually prison officers," she said. 

Ms Regan made the comments in an podcast made for a part of UCC Career Services series when asked about what advice she would give to people leaving college who might consider a career in jails.

She started her career at Castlerea Prison in Roscommon where she worked as a substitute teacher. There was no psychologist in the rural jails at the time. After what she saw in the jail, she decided to study to be a psychologist. She began her career in the UK but returned when she to a job in the Midlands Prison.

She is happy to be working with all staff.

"The work is fantastic, the people are fantastic, the clinical work are amazing and the staff are lovely to work with," she said.

She added that apart from working with prisoners, the psychology services also trains prison officers in trauma, mental health, challenging behaviour. The psychologist said prisoner officers are also supported in being resilient in a challenging work environment. 

To listen to the interview with Ms Regan, Edel Cunningham, Head Teacher at Cork Prison and Sheila Connolly, CEO of Cork Alliance Service which works with people released from prison and living in the Cork area.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2Z5teKmCDEDCIipISeFw3j