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A Styal of their own

Women's ability to support one another stands out in workshops held by Joy Winkler, the writer in residence at HM Prison and Youth Offenders Institute Styal in Cheshire. “If someone reads a poem out others will say that's great. I feel like that,” she says. “Nobody has ever said that's rubbish in a prison class, but it has happened in an outside class.”

Winkler facilitates writing classes twice a week on the wing at the prison. This is the area where prisoners who need a more secure setting are held. Women are told about the classes by prison staff and put their name down on a register to take part.

Winkler has run the course since last October, but has previously run a range of writing activities at the prison for about two years. Her project is a part of the Writers in Prison Network that runs the Arts Council and Prisoners Learning and Skill Unit's Writers-in-residence in prison scheme across the English prison estate. It also develops projects working with young people at risk of offending.

Winkler says she tries to pick the most vulnerable women to take part in the workshops. These include those who are not allowed off the wing and are therefore unable to attend some of the other activities available. This group often tends to be those who are on medication.

Creative writing can be a daunting prospect if you haven't done it before, says Winkler. “They say, ‘I can't write poems, I can't write stories,’ and I say that we will all do it together.” Winkler then tries to get the women into writing through indirect routes. This has included holding a workshop specifically on anger and asking the women what colour they associate with it. This generated some thought-provoking responses. “Anger is a padded cell where I can't find the door,” wrote one. “Anger is the smell of the worst poison in the world,” wrote another.

Winkler says that this association with colours allows the women to paint with words in order to create their pieces, making writing less daunting. Other lead-in techniques include speed writing where she gives them four words to focus on.
Perhaps not surprisingly poetry has proved very popular with the women. Many see it as the most appropriate way of writing about their experiences and Winkler says that she thinks this is partly because poems are seen as a less threatening and indirect way to do this. The women often ask Winkler to give them poems that they can send to their boyfriends or mums.

Winkler explains how the act of getting feelings down on paper can help some of the women to get over what has happened to them rather than constantly worrying about it. “When they are locked up their problems are going round in their head.” She adds that the workshops also provide a time when they can escape from their worries.

The obvious boost that the women get when their work is praised by their peers can be increased if they are lucky enough to get their work published in the prison magazine. Winkler explains that she has given the editor some poems to choose from on the day I talk to her.

A couple of years ago a book of the women's poetry entitled Lifestyal was published and sold well. Another collection of their poetry called Poetic Justice has also been published.

Winkler and the women have an exciting time ahead. While the prison is currently considering publishing another book of the women's work, due to the success of Lifestyal, Winkler is putting the finishing touches to her own novel. Let's hope the success continues.

Contact details:

The Writers in Prison Network: 01938 811 355

GEESE IS THE WORD

The idea of being able to gain a better understanding of your thoughts and feelings by distancing your self from them is also used in a Geese Theatre Company drama project at HM Prison Brockhill in Redditch, Worcestershire.

The company is a team of specialised theatre practitioners who work solely in the criminal justice system. They use theatre as a way to help rehabilitate and motivate offenders and young people at risk and work throughout the United Kingdom.

Sarah Woodland, a performer/group worker for the project at HMP Brockhill, explains how it uses masks to help young women. The idea behind the concept is that the mask acts as a metaphor for the front that you put on to the outside world when behind this the reality could be very different. Five masks are used that show different negative behaviours which everybody uses to cope with thoughts and feelings. These are a cool laid back mask, a joker, a mouthy mask talking 14 to the dozen, an angel mask for a good girl, and an aggression mask.

The facilitators create a character with the young women, who is representative of them and put on a mimed performance to the group incorporating the masks. The young women can stop to ask questions or comment on the play at any time and have a discussion about what feelings could lay behind the behaviour.

Woodland says that the fact that the performance is mimed enables the group to project onto it what the scenarios would be about for them. She adds that the creation of a character helps them to explore difficult issues without feeling self-conscious. “They are working with a character so you maintain a one step removed situation. We don't do things at a personal level,” she explains.

The next stage in the project involves getting the girls themselves to perform. This involves them splitting into groups in which one of them acts out the character that the group has created. She then pretends to be in a high-risk situation for them that might cause them to re-offend. The girls watching then come up with ways that the situation could be solved without this happening.

Woodland says that the girls benefit from working in a group by being able to discuss their ideas with each other and gain confidence when they are listened to. She adds that she sees drama as particularly useful when looking at thoughts, feelings and behaviour because it provides an active way to do this.

Woodland concludes that the key part to the work is that the young women are able to produce a solution to the scenarios they create, act it out and feel what it's like to succeed: something everybody enjoys.

Contact Details:

The Geese Theatre Company: 0121 446 4370
Visit: www.geese.co.uk
E-mail: mailbox@geese.co.uk

JOLLY GOOD FELLOWS

If anybody wants to explore the value of such projects an opportunity would be the Griffins Society fellowship which focuses on the resettlement of female offenders and ex-offenders.

The Griffins Society is a voluntary organisation working for the care and resettlement of female offenders, including those with a history of mental health problems and violent behaviour. It sponsors four fellowships, each worth £3,000, at the London School of Economics and Political Science. The first fellowships were awarded in 2001.

The fellowship scheme provides the opportunity for anybody with an interest in female offenders to study a particular aspect of their circumstances or treatment. Projects must have a community rather than a custodial focus, reflecting the Griffins Society's interests, but this can include issues around bail or resettlement following a custodial sentence. Anyone with an interest in female offenders, such as magistrates, probation officers and drug/alcohol counsellors, is welcome to apply.

Those working for either statutory organisations or the voluntary sector are eligible. Only those engaged in full-time academic work or studying for an undergraduate or post-graduate degree are not able to apply for the awards.

The deadline for applications, which must not be sent electronically, is Friday 30 April 2004. Interviews for shortlisted candidates will take place on Monday 24 May and Tuesday 25 May 2004. Each fellowship begins in September 2004 and runs for one year. Dr Judith Rumgay, director of the Griffins Society Visiting Research Fellowship Programme, will provide academic support and supervision to successful applicants.

Fellows will have access to the school's library and computing facilities as well as the opportunity to go to guest seminars hosted by the Mannheim Centre for Criminology and Criminal Justice and by the Department of Social Policy.

Contact Kate Steward on 020 7955 6744 or k.steward@lse.ac.uk for full details of the scheme. Or write to her at The Griffins Society Visiting Research Fellowship Programme, Department of Social Policy, LSE, Houghton Street, London, WC2A 2AE.