Featured job - Multiple roles with the Scottish Prison Service
Positions include Assistant Psychologists, Forensic Psychologists in Training, Practitioner Psychologists, Principle Psychologists and Consultant Psychologists. We hear from the recruiter.
17 September 2024
There are several key qualities that someone needs to thrive in a prison role. It is a challenging, fast-paced work environment. You are likely to see and hear things that might be outside of the norm in other working environments. You need to be resilient, reflective, be prepared to learn from mistakes and use the support of others around you. It's important to be attuned to your own feelings, and you should have a thirst for trying new things and not be afraid to think outside of the box.
To thrive, you need to be compassionate and non-judgemental in your approach. You will meet people from all walks of life who may have harmed people in ways that might shock or upset you. You need to see beyond the behaviour to the person and look at how you might be able to support them to lead a less harmful life. It's critical to be able to tell their story in a meaningful way so that other stakeholders understand the risks involved.
This means the person will feel heard and can start taking responsibility for their behaviours. Being personable and a team player is also important since most of the work is multi-agency ensuring positive outcomes for both public protection and individual care. You need to work collaboratively, drawing on other expertise and feeling confident with transparency since your decisions will be scrutinised.
It is an exciting time to work for SPS with plans for two new prisons, HMP Glasgow & HMP Highland, well underway. Both will see opportunities to work in purpose-built therapeutic spaces with HMP Highland being Scotland's most environmentally sustainable prison.
SPS Psychological Services are embarking on the release of a national psychology strategy. Several recruitment campaigns will launch soon to help us deliver on our objectives in various locations across the country. This strategy will ensure that those in our care receive the best possible support and rehabilitative opportunities, but will also promote professional development for our teams delivering this groundbreaking approach.
Working in a busy prison environment can be challenging and may also result in competing demands. In addition, complex behaviours are often presented in custody. This might include aggression or violence to self or others, or challenges to the organisation or individual professionals. The role of the psychologist is to monitor and understand their own responses to these behaviours and then offer multidisciplinary teams support in managing and understanding them. Staff support and wellbeing is a key priority and supervision is a key feature of our model: staff wellbeing and psychological health are pivotal in our role.
The SPS Employee Assistance Programme also provides 24/7 support via telephone to those who wish to access it. There is provision for counselling and a range of different supports available through HR including routine health and wellbeing screening from external professionals and a range of wellbeing services.
