A Psychiatrist Negotiates The Prison System

Training/Changing Natural Role Models

It was established early in our programme that for a therapeutic community to be established in a jail environment, a training programme had to be devised for the natural role models, the existing jail staff of assistant superintendents, head-warders, warders and functionaries like convict-officers (munshis), second munshis and mates. Jail staff members coming on duty smelling of liquor or being intoxicated were reported. Staff members coming late for duty or missing without leave, relating without responsible concern, or showing disrespect for authority had also been reported. These staff members were seen as negative role models and were to be avoided/changed. A thorough understanding of the existing hierarchy and functioning of the system of ward management was undertaken before training could begin. Each person's role was examined. The ward had to be seen as the fundamental focus for Prison management. There were indeed real problems.

One accepts that events of the Reforms Programme of the Prison Administration were happening side by side to be able to appreciate the atmosphere in which this therapeutic community arose. Without these reforms, the project would have been a non- starter. Negative forces present would have extinguished the small flame that this project was at that stage. However, some reforms were ad hoc solutions to problems which were contradictions to the global view of reforms.

The Prison was obsessed in breaking the nexus, sometimes real sometimes imagined, between jail staff and prisoners. The Prison resorted to an irrational transfer policy. Warders would be transferred every day from one ward to another. Head warders would be transferred every week. The attitude of these personnel was negative, their calibre low. Accountability which was already low became lower as no one stayed long enough to know the problems of prisoners or solve them. The result was repeated chaos in the therapeutic community created by the jail staff members not getting adequate theoretical inputs to understand the totality of the programme and the relevance of TC methods. This lack of understanding led to a lot of wastage of time and effort in repeated education of each new jail staff- member. One was continually undoing the damage to the programme and the resident morale when older repressive methods or irrational authority were used.

The trainer was available in the afternoons when the jail was sleeping. An assistant superintendent, the person incharge of the ward, was allotted several wards and, consequently, could do justice to none. He, at the time available to the trainer, was either required elsewhere for training or enjoying his afternoon siesta.

The head warder plays a key role in the development of the community. Disgruntled head warders showed poor respect for senior prison authority and even blatantly spoiled ward/resident discipline to prove that they were irreplaceable, and then would wield their rod to get discipline in a short time. Discipline attained, by this technique, was short-lasting. The message they wanted to give was that the "old, tested, carrot-stick approach" is the only way to look after "criminals". Their alternate message was "what do these new people know! We have successfully run jails for a long time". Once Mr Shivanand Khemani joined as head warder, our problems disappeared. As soon as he was transferred, problems cropped up again. Wisdom finally dawned on the authorities to risk keeping him incharge of the ward for an extended period of time.

Three duty shifts saw through the 24 hours watch-and- ward service in any ward. The main function of the warder was control of who comes in and who goes out of the ward. An important function was added by us, viz. what comes in or goes out of the ward. We managed, of and on, to get three regular warders for our ward.

The munshi, convict-officer, is a convict who has served more than two-thirds of his jail sentence and has shown positive institutional participation. He is not a resident of the ward. His main role is that of monitoring all jobs involving the upkeep of the inmates done by the inmates themselves - a prisoner supervising another prisoner. He serves as assistant census officer to the Head Warder. He also serves as an interface between the jail administration and the residents of the ward. Appreciation of authority and implementation of orders of the jail goes down well with the prisoners if the munshi has a positive attitude. A munshi got posted to a ward for a month, a period too short to understand the functioning of a TC or to know the traits of different residents and their special problems. We asked for and got a core group of five convicts to help us as teachers, and aides. The transfer problem was resolved by rotating persons from the core group to take up the position of munshi.

The second munshi is a position held by a resident of the ward. He functions as a census assistant to the munshi. In practice, he is also seen as a big brother for he has a greater rapport with the munshi and the head warder. The second munshi then is a traditional role model. In starting a TC in a jail, a great threat was perceived by the second munshi to his position. Where he was the one through which each resident had to go to get their needs met, in a TC he was merely a functionary in the census department. Initially, qualities of a family head were expected from him. When he failed on these qualities, a replacement was found. When he succeeded he was placed as assistant head of the census department.

There is one mate in each barrack who oversees the cleaning of the inside of the barrack. There is also one mate in the whole ward who oversees the cleaning of the ward outside the barracks. In a TC for drug addicts, any senior functionary is also a role model and can become senior only through correct role modelling. Naturally, then, existing mates who had great clout before the TC was formed resisted their position being taken away from them. Family heads gradually took over these positions. In addition, a senior family head took over as barrack incharge.

Developing the TC programme in this prison, therefore, required a careful selection of a team of persons on the basis of "change possibilities" in their attitudes. Training revolved around two modes: theoretical, and experiential. The first was handled by lectures, seminars and case discussions; the second, by letting them handle a family by initially being a family head followed by being a staff supervisor for that family. Additional training revolved around the TC work hierarchy and work ethic. Working with crew, crew leaders and department heads introduced a new dimension in getting community work done by the residents.

In addition, a major exercise was carried out over four months, December 1994 to March 1995, to inculcate value education in all prisons. A series of lecture demonstrations was initiated by AASRA on personality growth. The attendance was variable over the lecture series in any one prison. After one such lecture in Jail No. 1, I saw Dr Kiran Bedi walking alone near the Green- House. She, shyly, said she had been waiting for an hour for officials to show up for a meeting. I knew what she was going through. One was not alone in one's feeling of isolation and frustration.

The impact of this series of lectures was not evaluated till end 1995. The names of families in AASRA Parivar were changed, each family was named after a principle. Each principle was chosen to specifically correct the negative character traits found in the addict's personality as a result of long-term addiction.

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