‘ <i>Strengthen Them Inside</i> ’: Supporting prison staff wellbeing in England through creative writing

Abstract Prison staff experience multiple stressors in the course of their working lives and existing literature consistently emphasises the negative wellbeing implications of prison work. There is a gap in existing research regarding the types of wellbeing support that are appropriate and positively impactful for this occupational group. This article presents original findings following the delivery of an innovative wellbeing activity across two prisons in England which involved groups of prison staff engaging in an 8-week creative writing course. The activity brought together prisoner-facing and support staff resulting in an important opportunity to collaborate, reflect and enhance role appreciation. The core benefits of the course were improvements in personal and professional wellbeing and an opportunity to ‘detox’ negative prison working cultures.