We have seen in the previous chapter how Engagement with Chaplaincy was a key factor in a positive Attitude to Rehabilitation among Muslim Prisoners.

Our questionnaire results also showed that the factor Prison Environment, which included Treatment by prison officers, was strongly and significantly positively associated with Engagement with Chaplaincy. We interpreted this to mean that if Muslim prisoners felt that prison staff, and especially prison officers, treated them fairly and respectfully and that they were safe in prison, they were then more likely to engage with the prison chaplaincy and more likely to increase their commitment to work and education. In other words, the perception that prison staff were fair and respectful – or not – significantly impacted on the religiosity of Muslim prisoners.

In light of this influence of prison culture and staff interaction on religious outcomes in prison, this chapter presents our findings about how prison officers and prison governors interacted with Muslim prisoners. By highlighting examples of good practice and when things went wrong, we suggest some practical Principles for Engagement with Muslim prisoners, mindful of the fact that we are outsiders to the challenging role of being a prison officer. These Principles for Engagement identify flashpoints and describe three types of possible response from prison staff:

• • a naïve response;

• • a suspicious response;

• • a balanced response that charts an informed and fair Middle Way between naivety and suspicion.

The views of prison staff about Islam and Muslims in prison

The prison officers whom we interviewed universally expressed an aspiration to deal with Muslim prisoners fairly and professionally.

Some prison officers, for example an officer at HMP Cherwell who was a former British serviceman who had served in the Middle East, were informed and sensitive to the religious and cultural practices of Muslims, including the wishes of prisoners to perform their Obligatory Daily Prayers and their desire to express their Muslim-ness by, for example, wearing Islamic-style clothing to the Friday Congregational Prayer.

Prison staff often expressed a mature attitude to religious faith and religious conversion generally. For example, a nurse (female, British White, HMP Cherwell, Category C Prison) described a typically frank discussion with some opportunistic Converts to Islam:

Also, prison staff acknowledged the difficulty that they faced in making judgements about a prisoner’s religious faith.