This is episode 2 of a special 6-part series exploring the mental toll frontline professionals carry as they do vital work to protect all of us.

Wayne Campbell joined the police service in Northern Ireland in 2004 and spent much of his career as a detective, including overseeing the family liaison response for some of the country’s most devastating incidents - from homicides and fatal road accidents to mass casualty events. In this episode, Wayne tells us about two of the most defining and harrowing experiences of his career: being attacked by a loyalist terrorist group, and flying to America to tell a mother that her daughter had taken her own life after being targeted online by a man later convicted of child sexual abuse offences.

Connect with Kaigan Carrie

Website: evolvingprisons.com [https://www.evolvingprisons.com/]

Instagram: @evolvingprisons [https://www.instagram.com/evolvingprisons/]

LinkedIn: kaigancarrie [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaigancarrie/]

Under pressure: the police officer

This is episode 1 of a special 6-part series exploring the mental toll frontline professionals carry as they do vital work to protect all of us.

James Bull has been a firefighter for 25 years. In 2017, he made the brave decision to speak publicly about his experience of PTSD - a step that led to a three-year journey with a documentary film crew, capturing the mental health realities of the emergency services. In this episode, James tell us about two of the most psychologically difficult incidents of his career: a fatal road accident where he feared one of the casualties was his brother, and attending an incident that involved his own mum’s death. He reflects on how the job has shaped and changed him, and what it’s like to carry the toll of this job with him.

Connect with Kaigan Carrie

Website: evolvingprisons.com [https://www.evolvingprisons.com/]

Instagram: @evolvingprisons [https://www.instagram.com/evolvingprisons/]

LinkedIn: kaigancarrie [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaigancarrie/]

Under pressure: the firefighter

Ray and Vi Donovan's son, Chris, was murdered in 2001. They made the extraordinary decision to meet all three of his killers through restorative justice. They tell us about the heartbreak of losing Chris, navigating the justice system and how it felt meeting each of the three boys responsible.

Explore the work Ray and Vi are doing through the Chris Donovan Trust [https://chrisdonovantrust.org/].

Evolving Prisons links

Website: evolvingprisons.com [https://www.evolvingprisons.com/]

Instagram: @evolvingprisons [https://www.instagram.com/evolvingprisons/]

LinkedIn: kaigancarrie [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaigancarrie/]

Meeting the boys who killed our son: a restorative justice conversation

This is the 100th episode of the podcast! Thank you for listening and supporting these conversations.

Sarah Ellis is a barrister and forensic criminologist with a particular interest and specialism in coercive control, stalking and homicide. She explains the concept of the homicide timeline and how coercive control can escalate over time. Why is coercive control still so often misunderstood or overlooked? What needs to change in the way we intervene? And why do perpetrators of coercive control rarely change?

Learn more about the homicide timeline here. [https://www.homicidetimeline.co.uk/article.php?id=10]

Evolving Prisons links

Website: evolvingprisons.com [https://www.evolvingprisons.com/]

Instagram: @evolvingprisons [https://www.instagram.com/evolvingprisons/]

LinkedIn: kaigancarrie [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaigancarrie/]

Coercive control and the pathway to homicide

Rob McKeon has sat on the parole board in England & Wales since 2012. He's reviewed the cases of over 5,000 prisoners, making decisions on whether they are ready to be released, including those convicted of murder, serious violence and sexual offences. We discuss the biggest signs that a prisoner might be ready to re-enter society, how some prisoners try to sabotage each other’s chances of release, and the emotional weight of making decisions that can change lives forever.

You can purchase a copy of Rob's book, Parole, here [https://www.amazon.co.uk/Parole-Prisoners-Hands-High-stakes-Getting/dp/0711297282].

Evolving Prisons links

Website: evolvingprisons.com [https://www.evolvingprisons.com/]

Instagram: @evolvingprisons [https://www.instagram.com/evolvingprisons/]

LinkedIn: kaigancarrie [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaigancarrie/]

Inside the parole board

Will Potter is an award winning investigative journalist and author. He delivered a Ted talk about secret prisons in America which received millions of views. We chat about these prisons, called communication management units, how Will was able to enter one and the psychological toll that his work as a journalist has taken on him.

Evolving Prisons links

Website: evolvingprisons.com [https://www.evolvingprisons.com/]

Instagram: @evolvingprisons [https://www.instagram.com/evolvingprisons/]

LinkedIn: kaigancarrie [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaigancarrie/]

Communications Management Units and the toll journalism takes

Dr Shahed Yousaf is a GP who works in prison and with the homeless community in England. How is healthcare adapted to reach those without a fixed address? How does he navigate working with imprisoned patients who'd be better served in a mental health facility? What are some of the most surprising things he's seen in prison? And what personal toll has prison work taken on him?

You can buy a copy of Dr Yousaf's book, Stitched Up, here [https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stitched-Up-Stories-prison-doctor/dp/1787635953].

Evolving Prisons links

Website: evolvingprisons.com [https://www.evolvingprisons.com/]

Instagram: @evolvingprisons [https://www.instagram.com/evolvingprisons/]

LinkedIn: kaigancarrie [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaigancarrie/]

A GP in prison: the challenge of treating incarcerated patients

Paul Cosgrove is a former investment banker who later became a prison officer. He tells us about his experiences working with prisoners convicted of financial crimes, the attitude some of these individuals had towards their crimes, some of the most challenging things Paul has had to deal with and how transitioning from investment banking to prison work changed his views on materialism and success.

Evolving Prisons links

Website: evolvingprisons.com [https://www.evolvingprisons.com/]

Instagram: @evolvingprisons [https://www.instagram.com/evolvingprisons/]

LinkedIn: kaigancarrie [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaigancarrie/]

Leaving finance for prison & working with white collar prisoners

Recorded live, this episode features two prison officers who have worked in one of the UK's first community custody units for women. They share their experiences of transitioning from a male high-security prison in Scotland to working in a facility built on the belief that women should be imprisoned in more trauma-informed, community-like conditions. We speak about the contrasts between working in these vastly different establishments, their views on staff corruption, some of the difficult things they've both had to deal with, and how the job has changed them.

Evolving Prisons links

Website: evolvingprisons.com [https://www.evolvingprisons.com/]

Instagram: @evolvingprisons [https://www.instagram.com/evolvingprisons/]

LinkedIn: kaigancarrie [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaigancarrie/]

Working inside the UK's first community custody unit for women

Ian West served 35 years in the prison service in England, working in ten prisons and governing four. He tells us about the special secure unit of HMP Belmarsh where he worked with some of the highest-risk prisoners in the country, the difficulties of changing the thinking of some elderly prisoners and what it was like to govern a prison through the Covid-19 pandemic.

Evolving Prisons links

Website: evolvingprisons.com [https://www.evolvingprisons.com/]

Instagram: @evolvingprisons [https://www.instagram.com/evolvingprisons/]

LinkedIn: kaigancarrie [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaigancarrie/]

High-risk prisoners, Covid-19 & changing values

On this podcast I interview people from around the world who have experience of working or being incarcerated in prison. We discuss the challenges faced by both prison staff and incarcerated individuals, and ways we can improve prisons so they become places of growth and transformation. Studies have shown that prison officers are likely to die much younger than the general population and that they are at higher risk of heart problems, divorce, PTSD, depression and suicide, and 95% of incarcerated people will be released one day, so improving prisons benefits everybody.

Kaigan Denee Carrie

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