Unlocked Graduate officer, George, writes about his placement with Give a Book and experience of visiting prison reading groups

Having undertaken nearly 2 years on the landings as a prison officer, conducting a 2-week work placement with Give A Book has refreshed my sense of purpose immensely. Quite often in the day to day of working as a prison officer, the goal of rehabilitation can find itself lost in the necessities of prison regime. This opportunity gave me time to engage with those in custody on a completely different level, and I am extremely grateful for that. 

Over the 2 weeks I attended 4 reading groups in different establishments, the first, in a London remand prison, set the tone. As a prison reflective of my day-to day environment, I was unsure how it would feel entering without keys or uniform, but quickly found myself engaged in a thoughtful discussion about a piece of participatory journalism I’d thoroughly enjoyed reading. After the discussion I felt that I had experienced an entirely new side of prison, where it became clear that the introspection in discussing these pieces of literature were a truly valuable piece in the rehabilitative puzzle. 

My next group, in a female estate, was an equally engaging discussion, with a large group providing an in-depth discussion that, despite me not having any prior knowledge of the book, allowed for me to have a clear understanding of what it meant to read and discuss literature in a carceral environment. The escapism provided in these discussions was apparent, and the value of that to these women was also visible in the enthusiastic discussion. 

The third session, in another London establishment, was discussing poetry. I found myself slightly hesitant, as a non-poetry reader myself, as to how this would be received. I was pleasantly surprised, as the men discussing the poems led to a breadth of discussion, analysing the forms and content of the work and engaging well as a group. 

The final group, to my surprise, were overwhelmingly negative about the book they had read for the group. Despite this, the discussion was really illuminating, and everyone brought something to say about it. The enthusiastic discussion at the end, in which the men selected the next book for the group, was enjoyable to see as a neutral. One man had brought a book from his own collection to propose and managed to convince the group to choose this over the range provided by PRG, which the facilitators seemed more than willing to help accommodate. 

Book Recommendation: Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer – my favourite of the material I read for my placement, this account of the 1996 Mt. Everest Disaster makes for a truly fascinating meditation on what draws people to do extreme feats, as well as what went wrong on the expedition through the eyes of someone who was there. 

By G. E.