The Listener Scheme
In Partnership with HM Prison Service
Prisoners are seven times more likely to take their lives than
an average person in the UK. The first 48 hours spent inside a
prison are when people are the most vulnerable, for many reasons.
Prisoners may be moved between prisons, may have limited contact
with other people and can find it hard to adjust to their loss of
freedom.
The Listener Scheme is a peer support scheme whereby selected
prisoners are trained and
supported by Samaritans, using their same guidelines, to listen in
complete confidence to their fellow prisoners who may be
experiencing feelings of distress or despair, including those which
may lead to suicide.
The objectives of the scheme are to assist in reducing the number
of self-inflicted deaths, reducing self-harm and helping to
alleviate the feelings of those in distress.
The first Listener scheme started in HMP Swansea in 1991; more
detail can be found in the Historical Background
section
Nearly every prison in England, Scotland and Wales now has a
Listener scheme with well over 1200 active Listeners across the
estate. There is an increasing number of Listener schemes in
Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
How does the Listener Scheme work?
Samaritans volunteers select and train prisoners that have
expressed an interest in becoming a Listener and have been cleared
by the prison's Security team.
Prospective Listeners attend an intensive training course which is
based on standard Samaritans training but which is adapted for use
in the prison setting.
Listeners receive a certificate on completion of their training and
they sign a Compact that binds them to the same policies as
Samaritans volunteers.
Prisons aim to have one Listener per 50 prisoners. The Listener
team establish a rota within each prison to ensure that a 24 hour
service is available to anyone who needs it. Wherever possible,
support is provided in a private environment to allow complete
confidentiality.
Prisoners do not receive any form of remuneration for becoming a
Listener.
Confidentiality
The policy of confidentiality for Listeners is exactly the same
as for Samaritans volunteers. This is vital in encouraging
prisoners at risk of taking their own life to use the service. Even
after a Listener has left prison, their work as a Listener must
remain completely confidential. Similarly, confidentiality remains
even after the death of a contact. Listeners who cannot keep to
this should not continue as a Listener.
Support
Listeners receive regular support in the form of weekly or
bi-weekly support meetings with Samaritans volunteers. They may
discuss confidential matters at these meetings and can also phone
Samaritans at any time to offload and debrief after a difficult
contact.