Caprice Roberts, now 25, was a trainee accountant at a top firm, when she made a huge career change.
If you're looking for a job, there are plenty in prisons, according to recent figures, with almost 1,000 prison officer positions on offer in the UK at the end of November. But with a record number of officers leaving, according to their union, who will fill these roles?
So why would you give up a comfortable, potentially high-earning career as an accountant, a year from the end of your training, for a prison officer's uniform and boots? But after four years, having passed professional exams and completed a University of Birmingham degree, she did not believe accountancy "was going to keep getting me out of bed in the morning".During her accountancy training, Caprice volunteered for a charity, helping disadvantaged young people dress smartly for job interviews.
After six weeks intensive training, Caprice walked on to the landings for the first time 15 months ago, at Brinsford Category C Young Offender Institution, near Wolverhampton.Her family feared for her safety: "I guess probably because of what everyone perceives prisons to be, which is fight after fight, weapons, assaults, staff getting hit left, right and centre.She admits she came close to being assaulted during a fight between prisoners, which she and other officers broke up.
Offenders in prisons like Brinsford tend not to be there for very long, so the challenge for officers is to get to know them.
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