Working with ex-prisoners

People who have just been released from prison or court often have a number of obstacles to overcome that work against them being perceived as “desirable” or “deserving” clients. They often don’t present well and may have low functional literacy levels, low self esteem, poor social skills, mental health issues and appear aggressive. They may be impatient with assessments and procedures and distrust authorities. Ex-prisoners often feel judged by the prison connection and experience paranoia.

Often workers and services can describe feeling fearful and nervous when needing to engage with clients whom they know to have been in prison.

Clients are often refused service based on assumptions of their violence potential. i.e. charges for assault, murder are often equated to dangerous client. This is not always the case.

Many clients face multiple charges upon arrest which are often incidental to the crime. It is often a way of getting a conviction. Many are often charged with assault or resisting arrest, which can be as simple as touching a police officer during the arrest process.  Charge sheets don’t give a clear indication of “risk”. 
There is a presumption that this group is more dangerous than any other based on their connection with prison. The reality is that they are no more dangerous than any other client.

All community welfare workers should have procedures in place to ensure they are not placed at risk when dealing with their client group. These procedures should be consistent with all clients. They may range from adequate staffing levels when office is open, working in pairs, movement sheets, duress buttons etc.
A person identified as an ex-prisoner should be treated the same as any new client.. Service providers are often dealing with people who have committed crimes, but not been convicted or sentenced. They may be prone to aggressive and violent behaviour and have managed to stay away from the law. You just don’t know, and until a client is assessed as being of low risk, there should be procedural caution in dealing with all new ones.

Points to Consider:
How does your service respond to challenging behaviour?
What personal safety policies exist within your organisation?
Where do you meet with clients?
Are others around to observe?
How do you overcome your attitude when working with offenders or people with challenging behaviours?
Workers need to be aware of their own values and prejudices when working with offenders
The behaviour is the problem not the person.

If you need help when dealing with ex-prisoners phone the Community Restorative Centre (CRC) 02 9288 8700

CRC also provides one-day training courses for accommodation and community welfare workers.