Trust and Change

Judy Mackenzie

Description

Trust and Change explains the democratic basis of therapeutic communities (TCs) and what exactly happens in community meetings including those in prison. It deals with commonly asked questions about TCs and describes their four basic pillars: democratisation, tolerance, communality and reality confrontation as well as the 'no secrets' principle (commonly referred to as a footstool). It examines the need to create a culture of enquiry and ways of avoiding trauma and other risks. It shows how TCs integrate with normal prison regimes and locations and the arrangements for record keeping and auditing. Throughout, the book contains 'Thinking Points' and gives examples of typical structures and schedules together with the aims, purposes and rationale of key aspects of TC work.

Sujets

• Médecine
• Prison

Informations

• Publié par: Waterside Press
• Date de parution: 26 septembre 2018
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781910979594
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

Trust and Change
Thinking Points on Therapeutic Communities
Judy Mackenzie and Rosemary Anthony
Copyright and publication details
Trust and Change
Judy Mackenzie and Rosemary Anthony
ISBN 978-1-909976-58-0 (Paperback)
ISBN 978-1-910979-59-4 (Epub E-book)
ISBN 978-1-910979-60-0 (Adobe E-book)
Copyright © 2018 This work is the copyright of Judy Mackenzie and Rosemary Anthony. All intellectual property and associated rights are hereby asserted and reserved by the authors in full compliance with UK, European and international law. No part of this book may be copied, reproduced, stored in any retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, including in hard copy or via the internet, without the prior written permission of the publishers to whom all such rights have been assigned worldwide.
Cover design © 2018 Waterside Press by www.gibgob.com
Printed by Lightning Source.
Main UK distributor Gardners Books, 1 Whittle Drive, Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN23 6QH Tel: [phone]; [e-mail] ; www.gardners.com
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Cataloguing-In-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book can be obtained from the British Library.
e-book Trust and Change is available as an ebook and also to subscribers of Ebrary, Ebsco, Myilibrary and Dawsonera.
Published 2018 by
Waterside Press Ltd
Sherfield Gables
Sherfield on Loddon, Hook
Hampshire RG27 0JG.
Telephone [phone]
Online catalogue WatersidePress.co.uk
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Table of Contents
Acknowledgements vi
About the authors vii
Introduction and Overview 9
Gender 9
Democratisation 10
So What is this Book for? 10
Our Approach to the Subject 11
Thinking Points 16
1 Community Meetings 17
What Happens in Community Meetings? 18
What Does this Look Like in Practice? 21
Agendas 23
Some Commonly Asked Questions 25
Thinking Points 30
2 Four Pillars and a Footstool 31
Democratisation 31
Tolerance 35
Communality 36
Reality Confrontation 39
The Footstool: No Secrets! 42
Some Questions 48
Thinking Points 50
3 Culture of Enquiry: Living Learning Experiences 51
Culture of Enquiry 53
The Living Learning Experience 55
A Cult? 58
Thinking Points 59
4 To Care or Not to Care? Two Sides of a Single Coin 61
Re-traumatising 65
Some Questions 66
Compromise 70
Thinking Points 73
5 Boundaries 75
Thinking Points 85
6 Grief, Loss and the Failure to Mourn 87
Some Questions 96
Thinking Points 98
7 Additional Therapeutic Aspects 99
Small Groups 100
List of Groups 101
Complementary Therapies 101
Integration With Other Services 102
Structure 104
Recording and Audit 106
Expectations 107
Assessment Procedure 108
Thinking Points 108
Typical Week’s Structure: An Example 109
8 Staff 111
Supervision and Sensitivity 113
“I’m not here for Therapy!” 116
Role Modelling 117
Victim Persecutor Rescuer 118
Parallel Process 119
Thinking Points 121
9 Miscellaneous Aspects 123
Bon Courage! 123
On Return to the Outside World 125
Outcomes 126
Advice 128
Transference and Counter-transference 133
Some Exercises to Help Develop TC Skills 133
Reflective Exercise 134
10 Previous Writings from Elsewhere 137
Aims (from early teaching at HMYOI Glenparva) 137
The Task of Therapy 139
From an Article Entitled “How Do TCs Work?” 139
Taken from “A Beginner’s Report” — HMYOI Glenparva 140
Afterthought 142
Select Bibliography 143
Main References 143
Other Resources 145
Index 147
Acknowledgements
We find it difficult to single out individuals from the many people who have contributed to our growth and learning, and to the breadth of experience that has allowed this book to be written.
It is self-evident that the many prisoners, clients and staff we have worked alongside are the main source of our delight in the work as well as the richness that has kept us addicted for so many years.
The writing would never have got underway without the insistence of Kirk Turner, but we are also grateful for the encouragement of Julie Bowen and Barbara Rawlings.
Neither of us would have achieved writing any of the book without the other. We both know in our hearts that family and friends — in this world and the next — are the ones to whom we are really in debt.
Judy Mackenzie
Rosemary Anthony
June 2018
About the authors
Judy Mackenzie is a psychiatrist and psychotherapist who has spent her working life in therapeutic communities (TCs), both in prisons and the National Health Service. She believes passionately in their relevance for all groups — youngsters and adults, of all genders and in settings secure and non-secure. They are currently funded largely for the treatment of personality disorder and, in prisons, for addressing offending behaviour. However she believes that they have value for a far wider section of society.
Judith Mackenzie worked in and latterly managed over eleven TCs and also acted as a TC consultant, trainer and supervisor. Her final position was as psychodynamic lead for the private sector Dovegate Prison TC. A former member of the Parole Board she was also instrumental in the development of service standards for prison TCs and was a midwife to the birth of the three prison therapeutic units for learning disability.
Judy Mackenzie currently has a private practice offering psychotherapy and supervision to both groups and individuals.
Rosemary Anthony gained her Certificate of Qualification in Social Work (CQSW) in 1983 after attending Oxford Brookes University (then Oxford Polytechnic). After qualifying she became a probation officer and worked in the community for a number of years before specialising as a divorce court welfare officer. She then worked in HM Prison Grendon, the first UK therapeutic whole prison, for ten years.
Rosemary Anthony, who retired in 2007, believes passionately in the power of TCs to effect change in people. Having worked with offenders in the community, and with prisoners on infrequent visits, she believes the TC experience was the most rewarding time of her career and a privilege to have witnessed positive change in offenders in prison.
Introduction and Overview
This book shares the experiences of two workers within therapeutic communities (TCs) in various settings, though largely prison-based. Using practical examples, it puts out some thoughts about various situations that can cause headaches for new and old practitioners and residents 1 alike. It aims to provide general guidelines and straightforward explanations of some common terms. It is not a manual for “How to Do It”, but hopefully one for “How to Begin Thinking About How to Do it”; stressed by its questioning approach and, e.g. the “Thinking Points” at the end of chapters. It is written in trust that readers will engage in their own internal and collective debate. Also that they might be encouraged to look at some of the works in the Select Bibliography at the end of this book, as to which we include a modest number of references in the text.
Gender
We apologise in advance for any gender emphasis on the masculine. We have both worked mainly in all male environments, from which we largely reference our experience, though much of what we have to say also refers to women. The pedantic inclusion of “him or her” at every point seemed to us to be clumsy and to interfere with the flow. Sexism is not part of our brief and we hope that where we do use the male form or concentrate on men we do not give offence.
Democratisation
A linchpin of TCs is democratisation. Everyone involved has a voice and a right to be heard. From that standpoint there could be as many books on TCs as there are individuals who have passed through them.
So What is this Book for?
As so often with such questions the answer may best be given as a description of what it is not: This is not a textbook or even a handbook. It does not seek to replace the excellent books and papers written by others. It certainly does not replace the Therapeutic Community Accredited Training (T-Cat) (see next section). It is nowhere near comprehensive.
Rather it seeks to share some of the learning and experience garnered over 60 years between two of us, J and R (we use these abbreviations throughout the book), working in 13 TCs between us. So: Tips, comments and anecdotes have been included and scattered throughout the text. For the downhearted we have included comments made by residents throughout the years. Most chapters end with questions or “Thinking Points” for discussion; we have sometimes given our own views in the text but they are not the only ones nor necessarily the best. It is the debate that matters. We deliberately want the reader to think and arrive at their own conclusions not to be “spoon fed”. Some points appear in different guises on more than one occasion throughout the text. This is our equivalent of underlining .
Our Approach to the Subject
“The Robot said ‘I have been trying, friend Julius, to understand some remarks that Elijah made to me earlier. Perhaps I am beginning to, for it suddenly seems to me that the destruction of what should not be, that is, the destruction of what you people call evil, is less just and desirable than the conversion of this evil into what you people call good’.” 2
Anyone who has become attached to a TC knows how hard it can be to leave it — for ourselves and possibly for the TC we are leaving behind. As both J and R have left several TCs that have been important to us, we have experienced this at first hand. We felt it to be incumbent upon us to do our best to “leave well”, whatever that means. In this way we hoped to model healthy separation for our clients, respecting all attachments, dealing with unfinished business and leaving on our last day with heads high, tears f