PRISON MANAGEMENT IN IRISH PRISON SERVICE

Prison management in Irish prison service



Prison management in Irish prison service

The management of a prison is a difficult and challenging task. This is reflected in the requirement set out in the UN Standard Minimum Rules (Rule 50, 1) that the Governor should “be adequately qualified for his task by character, administrative ability, suitable training and experience”. The Irish Prison Service is responsible for the provision of safe, secure and humane custody for those people committed to prison by the Courts. It is a key component in the country's criminal justice system ensuring safer community life.

The Recruit Prison Officer (RPO) is the entry level to the Service. The efficiency of the Prison Service depends upon the careful selection of staff and the provision of adequate training and discipline. The role of the prison officer has been defined by a detailed job analysis and recruitment based upon a 'value selection process'. The purpose of the prison service has is defined by the mission statement. The primary goal of the value selection process is to ensure that RPO's share the values promoted by the Irish Prison Service. “It is difficult to define what prison officers do, let alone assess how well they have done it”. (Coyle, 2002, p65) Working as a Recruit Prison Officer can be complex and difficult, but it can be varied, challenging and highly rewarding. The selection process seeks individuals who have good interpersonal skills and can show initiative. They must also have the ability to think on their feet in dealing with situations which require security and control to be maintained whilst remaining sensitive to the needs of prisoners, some of whom have serious behavioural problems. A RPO must have good listening, influencing, negotiating and verbal communication skills.

Living conditions for prisoners

These varied significantly from country to country. One example was the Western European tradition of attempting to provide single cell sleeping accommodation for each prisoner, in contrast to the tradition in Eastern Europe of dormitory accommodation. One of the difficulties in making a judgement about the appropriateness of these arrangements was a consideration of the amount of time prisoners spent in their sleeping accommodation. In some jurisdictions most prisoners would spend the majority of each 24 hours locked in this accommodation, while in others there would be full programme of daily activities, with cell or dormitory accommodation reserved mainly for sleeping(Cherry, 2006, p34). A disturbing development we found was that even in some of the original member states of the Council of Europe some standards which had previously been regarded as non derogable were no longer universally observed. One example was the obligation to provide each prisoner with the opportunity to have at least one hour each day in the open air.

Health care

The health profile of prisoners compared to the community as a whole is very poor and health care is a major concern. In the course of its regular visits the CPT pays particular attention to the provision of medical ...