OUT OF THE FRYING PAN

Softcover. Foreword by Prof. David Wilson. What, you may ask, would possess anybody to want to work as a prison officer, to spend each working day with people who were often violent and unpredictable? The hours can be very long and arduous and although the conditions vary according to which jail you may decide to enrol, the one thing guaranteed is that you lose some control of your social life the moment you have signed along th dotted line. However, the salary is above today's average (at the time of publication) and if you are a team player it can be a very satisfying and rewarding career. The author's own decision to join up was encouraged by a feeling of disappointment in his employment as a mechanical fitter and a real desire to work with people, as opposed to machinery, in order to bring about a change in their lives. In January 1976, whilst having a drink with some friends, he met Gary, who was serving a 4yr sentence for burglary. He was on home leave from Stafford Prison. During the evening he talked about why he committed his crimes and what he got out of them. The author admitted to Gary that he was fed up with his job and wanted to work with people, perhaps in a caring profession. Gary suggested something that the author thought was a crazy idea at the time: perhaps he could become a prison officer! It has become commonplace for ex-offenders - especially high-profile ex-offenders - to write an account of their criminal careers and the time that they spent in prison. What has been missing from this genre is a staff perspective - specifically the voice of the Prison Officer. This autobiography admirably fills the gap both in relation to the more general issues as to why the author became a Prison Officer and what it feels like to be on the "front-line" of the latest penological fashion. More specifically it fills the gap about what Prison Officers do within a therapeutic community by covering his two periods of service as an officer at HMP Grendon. Illus. + Epilogue. 384pp softcover. As New with no creasing to covers.