Prisons, Part 1 of 2 - Caustic Soda

My father in law spent some time as one of the prison religious leaders in the state of Utah. He specifically is LDS but I am not sure if the experience would be any different for other religious leaders in the prison. It was not a paid position but rather a volunteer position. However you had to be appointed by the religious governing body and then pass all background checks to work at the prison. There he had to attend quite a few trainings about do’s and don’ts “Don’t accept things from inmates”, “don’t transfer messages or goods in or out of a prison for inmates”, “don’t provide any treats to the inmates (like chewing gum, pens, etc)”, “don’t share personal details”. He would be present for Sunday services and then have “office hours” where he could meet with any inmate who wanted to talk. He got to work with the guards and the prison staff to select people for specific jobs during the service. Most of the time the inmates were well behaved. Although there were obviously some who came to services to just get away from their cell to go to the chapel, they were rarely rowdy as that would result in them losing the privilege to attend. He said it was difficult and emotionally draining work but enjoyed being able to do what he could to help the inmates who really sought help. As this is a volunteer position, they usually move religious leaders in every 2 years to help prevent anyone from shouldering too much emotionally and mentally distressing feelings and information.

3 Responses

Nathan Helgren says:

September 30, 2015 at 10:49 am

My father in law spent some time as one of the prison religious leaders in the state of Utah. He specifically is LDS but I am not sure if the experience would be any different for other religious leaders in the prison. It was not a paid position but rather a volunteer position. However you had to be appointed by the religious governing body and then pass all background checks to work at the prison. There he had to attend quite a few trainings about do’s and don’ts “Don’t accept things from inmates”, “don’t transfer messages or goods in or out of a prison for inmates”, “don’t provide any treats to the inmates (like chewing gum, pens, etc)”, “don’t share personal details”. He would be present for Sunday services and then have “office hours” where he could meet with any inmate who wanted to talk. He got to work with the guards and the prison staff to select people for specific jobs during the service. Most of the time the inmates were well behaved. Although there were obviously some who came to services to just get away from their cell to go to the chapel, they were rarely rowdy as that would result in them losing the privilege to attend. He said it was difficult and emotionally draining work but enjoyed being able to do what he could to help the inmates who really sought help. As this is a volunteer position, they usually move religious leaders in every 2 years to help prevent anyone from shouldering too much emotionally and mentally distressing feelings and information.
Karen says:

September 30, 2015 at 10:35 pm

Prison rape: callback to Ilsa Koch, and y’all wondering why a guard would want to have sex with her, resulting in pregnancy! Violence and power.
Ermine says:

October 2, 2015 at 9:59 am

Great episode guys! Prisons are scary, scary places. The PSA had a lot of stuff I would never have thought of, so that’ll be useful if I ever… …actually I really hope it *doesn’t* ever come in useful, haha.