Heart wrenching, well-humoured, and at times horrifying, The Prison Officer is the brutally honest, no-holds-barred account of a young woman thrust into the midst of a dangerous men's prison, working amongst gangsters, murderers and traffickers.
With an ever-growing drug problem, a mental health system on the brink of collapse, and a team of officers that have already given up.
This powerful, eye-opening memoir delves into tumultuous realities of the UK prison system in a compelling, unique and comprehensible way.
THE BOOK:
Life as a prison officer was Gen's calling. But when she took her first job in a men’s prison at only 23, she was thrown in at the deep end.
From the wing kingpin who delivers his threats with a smile and a pat on the back, to the famous drill artist causing a stir on the wing, and from the ‘frequent flyer' for whom prison is the only home he's known, to the young offender who gets a second chance, Gen reveals the incredible cast of characters behind the prison walls.
In this searing account of her time behind bars, discover how Gen learned how to use her heart, her humour and sheer bloody-mindedness to make a difference.
THE AUTHOR:
Gen Glaister had her heart set on being a prison officer since she was fifteen. Just three months after leaving university she finally got the keys to one of London’s largest male prisons, where she learned more about humans than she could ever have imagined. Since leaving the prison service, Gen has remained determined to change the public’s approach to people in prison and to get the UK excited about justice reform.