Jonathan Asser

Time to rethink prison safety: not just with more force, but with evidence.
#ShameViolence #PrisonSafety #SVI #CriminalJustice #ViolencePrevention

With violence rising and talk of arming officers, ignoring evidence-based work like SVI makes no sense.

If something works in violent environments, it should be a starting point — not a casualty.

SVI was so successful, I was even able to persuade Wandsworth’s main players to agree to sit down for dialogue with senior police.

But when I told Wandsworth management about this astonishing breakthrough, they shut SVI down the very next day.

Why?

SVI used a “seeing-is-believing” model: prisoners met face-to-face, resolved tensions, and safely coexisted on the same wing.

Standard practice — segregation — only delays violence rather than resolving it.

Over a decade at HMP Wandsworth, not one single act of violence occurred between active SVI participants — during or between sessions — despite many having previously been directly violent toward each other or affiliated where violence had occurred.

It only required one member of staff to run it — me. In 2008, SVI won the award for innovation from the largest therapy organisation in the UK.

SVI was never an offender rehab scheme. Its sole aim was prison safety.

Here’s the critical fact…

The government is investing more in specialist teams to tackle serious violence. But years ago, there was Shame/Violence Intervention (SVI), which maximised prisoner involvement — enabling violent prisoners at HMP Wandsworth to come safely together.

Call-outs for specialist prison squad increase 44% in two years - BBC News The prison squad also deals with young offender institutions and immigration removal centres.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...