Name: What does it take to be a prison officer? | BBC Ideas
Uploaded: 2026-02-06T21:01:30.000Z
Duration: 5 min 24 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

No-one really sees what we see, what we deal with.

To-infinitive

It's human nature to run away from danger.

Modal verbs - A2

But as a prison officer, you have to run into the face of danger.

They are some of the most incredible people that I've ever worked with.

[What does is take to be a prison officer?]

I worked for four years in a prison in south-west England.

Previous to that, I had a long career in financial services and banking.

They had like an introduction day. That was my first step into prison.

And that was, er... a real bolt out of the blue.

Everything is noisy - the metal on metal,

and, of course, the prisoners running up and down the stairs all day.

Undertaking a role in a prison environment

is one of the most complex and demanding roles that you could possibly undertake.

We expect them to see things which are really very difficult.

I've probably interviewed around about 70 to 80 prison officers,

and a lot of their motivations for joining the job are actually economic reasons.

But although that's the reason that they join,

I find that a lot of them, when they're in the job, they find other reasons to stay.

A lot of them want to do a job that is quite action-orientated.

Prison officers, we know that they're hypervigilant,

because they're always waiting for something to happen.

They really do a difficult job and they really take on a lot of trauma,

and it really impacts their mental health.

[72% of prison officers say they are frequently stressed at work]

You're dealing with issues which people would probably,

if it happened once in their lifetime, would be going on and on and on about it

and repeating that story every Christmas.

We had the one notorious prisoner, who...the self...

It's indescribable, so I probably wouldn't even try and explain it.

I would come home and would sit in the corner,

staring at the wall because of something that had happened that day.

I bored quite a lot of friends with stuff.

That used to frustrate me, because I'd have to sit there

and listen to their...what I thought was a fairly dull day,

And I'm going, "Well, so you didn't hit your sales figures. That's amazing."

"Yeah, well, this bloke needed 80 stitches in his neck because he cut himself with a tile."

which demands people to just get up, dust themselves off

That probably breeds some...erm, unhealthy behaviours?

The way a lot of them cope is to compartmentalise their life.

There's a big culture in the Prison Service of using alcohol to cope.

"We're damaged people looking after damaged people,"

which I think highlights that a lot of prison officers

are suffering and struggling but they still get on

and they just do the job as best as they can.

In one case where I cut down a prisoner who'd hung himself,

there is no, "Right, let's sit down, let's chat, let's have five minutes."

Prison officers that I've spoken to have said

that their colleagues and their leadership team

Colleagues having your back is nothing short of life-saving.

Second day in the shift, I got assaulted.

And what did impress me was the amount of staff that turned up to me hitting my personal alarm.

People are just completely bonded in those experiences

which are either too difficult or, you know,

too unpleasant to share with their loved ones outside.

There has always been a real sense that the Prison Service is hidden and forgotten.

I don't think anyone has any idea what a prison officer does.

I did four years. Those that have done 20-odd years,

and I'd like to see them get the recognition

I'm really passionate about the public really understanding,

and having a bit more compassion and understanding

for the people who are in prisons and keeping the rest of us safe

from those deemed too risky to be in society.

I pushed myself way beyond anything I thought I was capable of,

Subtitles ListPlay Video

What does it take to be a prison officer? | BBC Ideas

constantly

struggle

deserve

trauma