"Intimidated, claustrophobic, and out of my depth"

Student social worker Becky Salter reveals how her prison placement opened her eyes to what’s possible.

Preparing for my final placement last November, I found myself reflecting on my second-year practice learning opportunity with the charity P.A.C.T, who support families within Her Majesty’s Prison service.

After undertaking the necessary home office checks, interview, and key training, I walked onto a busy prison wing that first day, and the enormity of my placement hit me. I was intimidated, claustrophobic, and out of my depth.

Those first weeks, my eyes were opened to a whole are of social work that I wasn't aware existed, in a setting I hadn't even contemplated when applying for the Social Work degree.

Like all social work students, I’d worked on my communication skills and learnt how to build mutual trust through common ground, but the way in which information is exchanged in such a setting is different.

When you are supporting men that have been convicted of committing sexual offences, you are extremely aware of the content of your conversation.

This is where the support and guidance of your practice educator is priceless. I was in a supervision, around day 60, when I began to cry. It was a challenging headspace to be in sometimes, and I had been bottling some feelings up.

My practice educator listened encouragingly as everything came tumbling out. I didn’t feel embarrassed, or like I’d wasted her time.

Self-care in Social Work is vital, and your practice educator is there to support you.

For the last three months of my placement I supported individuals who had children with additional learning needs and disabilities, and was surprised to find there was nothing specific to support these children with a parent in a prison setting. This was my lightbulb moment. I finally felt like I understood why I had been placed in this service and started to ask Why?

I focused on what mattered to these families, what their lived experiences of the prison provision were, and how the systems within the setting needed challenging and adapting to meet their needs. The prison staff had no understanding of children with disabilities, and this became the starting point for change.

I connected with the local authority Autism Spectrum Disorder Lead and together we co-produced a training presentation based on the research I had undertaken. Fathers that had a child with a diagnosed disability or additional need could be supported to take part in a different type of visit for the first time.

The new CALM visits (Children with Additional Learning and Multi-sensory needs) featured activities such as making Mother’s Day cards using Makaton symbols, or sensory glitter bottles, and scheduled time for quiet interaction. The prison staff were brilliant in their approach, and it was lovely to see the children engaging with them in a more relaxed manner.

Feedback forms for the children featured words such as ‘happy’ and smiling drawings of them with their dads. It was extremely rewarding compared to previous visits where theyclearly felt overwhelmed.

Who would have thought, going into this placement, that I would create such change?

During lockdown I met an incredibly talented artist called Yusuf, whose clear message was: ‘Be the Difference.’ It’s one I will take into future practice.

I would say embrace your placements, allow yourself to be overwhelmed - your inner professional curiosity and creativity will lead you to Be the Difference in a way you can’t even imagine at the start.

Please visit mysocialworknews.com to read this full article online.

Becky Salter