1. Surviving Prison through Building Meaningful Relationships
An Expert by Experience Workshop delivered by staff and service-users from Bridging the Gap, York

2. Introductions Kris Damien Sammy Short Amber Holmes
Expert by Experience
Damien
Sammy Short
Assistant Psychologist – Bridging the Gap
Amber Holmes
Therapy and Integration Lead – Bridging the Gap

3. Outline of Workshop 1. ‘The Bus to Hell’ 2. Living together
Activity/reflections
Expert by Experience talk
Practitioner reflections/theory
2. Living together
3. Using time
Activity/reflections
Expert by Experience talk
Practitioner reflections/theory
4. Getting out
Health warning – be clear about the scope of the workshop and awareness of victim. We are here to have an open discussion on the experience of prison, and although it is important to hold in mind the harmful nature of offending – this workshop will mainly focus on the experience of men in prison.

4. The ‘Bus to Hell’ In pairs:
Think of a recent occasion when you were feeling stressed.
What did you want and need at this time?
What helped and what didn’t?
Kris and Damien’s experiences of being
sentenced and arriving at prison…

5. Types of Sentencing Determinate Sentence
Typically released on licence at mid-way point
Indeterminate Public Protection (IPP) Sentence
Abolished in 2012
‘Tariff’ – minimum term spent in prison
Life Sentence

6. Attachment Theory
Attachment Theory was developed by John Bowlby (1969/82)
Strategy for survival – Attachment system most active when under threat
Secure – capacity for appropriate self-soothing and affiliative strategies
Dismissing – downregulation of attachment system
Preoccupied – upregulation of attachment system
Disorganised – Attachment system can not be downregulated
We all respond differently – prison is a threatening environment!

7. Living Together In groups: Kris and Damien’s real-life experiences…
List as many ‘prison rules’ and/or myths about prison as you can.
Kris and Damien’s real-life experiences…

8. Living Together Limited resources
Anxious organisation – ‘black and white thinking’, paranoid-schizoid position (Stokoe, 2011)
Attempt at gaining a sense of control and predictability in a threatening environment?
Mentalisation and the threat response
High levels of insecure and disorganised attachment presentations and a high incidence of personality disorder (60-67%; NOMS and NHS, 2015)
Attachment in groups – secure attachment predicts affiliation to groups and empathy (e.g. Boccato and Capozza, 2011)
Mention desensitisation to violence – becomes the norm – is this helpful?

9. The Traumatised Brain
Frontal areas of the brain associated with decision making, judgement, sense of self and empathy
Amygdala associated with threat response – ‘fight or flight’
Amygdala ‘hijacks’ frontal areas, making executive functioning difficult
Desensitisation to threat over time
Add tricky brain

10. Using Time What did you achieve in your 20’s?
What were/are your goals for this period in your life?
Kris and Damien’s real-life experiences…

11. The Dynamic Maturational Model
Patricia Crittenden (1995) goals of attachment stage:
Adulthood: establishing symmetrical and reciprocal spousal attachments and non-symmetrical attachment relationships in which the adult is the attachment figure
The goal is to employ strategies to protect the self(and reproduce) within different contexts
The men are likely to have a reliance on Type A and C strategies, due to adverse childhood experiences
The threatening context of prison may reinforce such strategies?
Understandable and functional, given the context
Type B strategies – psychological balance, ‘secure’, reciprocal
Type A strategies – Dismissing, self-reliant, cognitive – downregulating
Type C strategies – Preoccupied, anxious, emotional - upregulating
What about prison as a safe, structured environment to some? – predictable, familiar!

12. Psychologically Informed Planned Environment (PIPE)
Developed as part of the National Offender Personality Disorder Strategy (NOMS/NHS, 2015)
Partnership between NHS and NOMS
Part of a pathway of PIPEs, from prison to the community
Has 6 main components:
Enabling Environment
Structured Sessions
Socially
Creative
Activities
Keyworking
Clinical Supervision
Staff Training and Development

13. Getting out
Kris and Damien’s real-life experiences of getting out and adjustment…
What is the impact of a long prison sentence on subsequent functioning and adjustment?

14. The Good Lives Model A ‘Good Life’ Ward and Mann (2004)
Inner Peace
Excellence in Agency
Excellence in Play
Relatedness
Spirituality
Knowledge
Creativity
Excellence in Work
Pleasure
Ward and Mann (2004)
Strengths-based approach to rehabilitation
We all desire the same basic ‘goods’ in life – it’s how we achieve them that is the focus of intervention

15. Trauma and CFT / Narrative Therapy
Reducing shame with knowledge
Unsticking trauma memories
Replacing self-criticism with self-compassion
Processing own trauma to accept own offences
Different offence, different reaction

16. Bridging the Gap

17. References
Boccato, G. & Capozza, D. (2011). Attachment styles and social groups: Review of a decade. Testing, Psychometrics, Methodology in Applied Psychology, 18, Bowlby, J. (1969/82). Attachment and Loss. Vol. I: Attachment. New York: Basic Books. Crittenden P. M. (1995). Attachment and psychopathology. In S. Goldberg, R. Muir, & J. Kerr (Eds.) John Bowlby's attachment theory: Historical, clinical, and social significance (pp ). New York: Analytic Press. National Offender Management Service & NHS England. (2015a). The Offender Personality Disorder Pathway Strategy. content/uploads/sites/12/2016/02/opd-strategy-nov-15.pdf National Offender Management Service & NHS England. (2015b). Working with Offenders with Personality Disorder: A Practitioner’s Guide. a-practitioners-guide Stokoe, P. (2011). The healthy and the unhealthy organisation: how can we help teams to remain effective? In A. Rubitel & D. Reiss (Eds.), Containment in the Community: Supportive Frameworks for Thinking about Antisocial Behaviour and Mental Health. London: Karnac Books Ltd. Ward, T. & Mann, R. (2004). Good lives and the rehabilitation of offenders: A positive approach to sex offender treatment. Positive psychology in practice,