Scottish Prisons Assessment and Review of Outcomes for Women (SPAROW): executive summary

Gender-specificity and trauma-informed practice in a prison environment (see Chapter 5, 7 & 8 in the full report)

The SPS Strategy for Women in Custody 2021–2025 emphasises the centrality of a gender-specific and trauma-informed approach within the CCUs, and that these principles should underpin and inform the design of the CCUs. The principles should inform the skills and knowledge of SPS officers working within them, the quality of the relationships between staff and women and the women’s health and wellbeing. The services, approaches and tools available to help to address the individual needs and risks of the women should also be covered by the principles.

There are well-documented challenges for embedding gender-sensitive and trauma-informed principles in a prison environment. Particular attention has been paid to the CCU physical design and layout, to promote feelings of safety and afford an element of privacy for women. Each CCU consists of two storey ‘shared houses’, three in HMP Bella and four in HMP Lilias. Each house has individual bedrooms, with an en-suite shower room and toilet, and a large communal kitchen with cooking and food storage facilities, a living/dining room area, and a shared bathroom. The aim is to create a calm and quiet environment and a ‘residential feel’, with comfortable furniture, and large, un-barred windows letting in lots of natural light.

A communal ‘Hub’ area is used as a seating and/or dining area and for various activities; it incorporates a large open-plan kitchen intended for women to use. Doors lead out into a garden adjacent to a small children’s play area, for use by visiting family members. All buildings are situated in landscaped garden grounds with attractive herbaceous planting, short paths for walking and places to sit.

The women all carry a key card enabling access to their bedroom, their house, and other areas of the CCU, such as the Hub and the gym space. There are minimal overt signs of security. Women are encouraged to work with their Personal Officers to identify their specific needs, as well as their skills and assets and the types of support services and interventions that may be helpful to them. They are expected to maintain their personal and communal living spaces and to budget, shop, and prepare their own meals.

To address women’s health needs, NHS nurses are present in the CCUs from Monday to Fridays, a doctor visits once a week and an occupational therapist visits once or twice a week. NHS staff conduct examinations, prescribe and dispense medication and make referrals to other NHS services where necessary. Women can self-refer to the NHS nursing team and are not dependent on officers doing it for them, as may be the case in closed conditions. There is also a clinical psychologist present for one or two days a week in each CCU.

Social workers are frequent visitors to the CCUs, assessing women’s risks and needs and connecting them with other resources. They play a role in supporting family contact. A dedicated housing officer works with women to plan for sustainable accommodation on release.

Each CCU has a staff contingent of between 30 and 36, comprised of operational and residential officers, along with up to six line-managers. There is wide variability in the level of experience of officers, with the majority having no prior experience of working with imprisoned women. To meet the vision and goals for the CCUs, it is crucial that officer training equips officers with the skills and knowledge to work in a gender-specific way. Training should focus on how and why key elements of trauma-informed practice (safety, trustworthiness, choice, collaboration and empowerment) need to inform officer interactions with women, and the services delivered within the CCUs. Yet, as discussed in Chapter 8 in the full report, officers recalled little of any training they had received and many felt unprepared working in a CCU. Articulating the principles of gender-specificity and trauma-informed working and how it can be pursued in practice was difficult for most officers. This suggests a need for more dedicated and ongoing training as well as opportunities for staff reflection and discussion.