Michael Stoney – Governor HMP Barlinnie
Across the world, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) has had a notable impact in correctional facilities, providing support to people in custody struggling with alcohol addiction. HMP Barlinnie has been supported by AA for 65 years now, which is a significant and remarkable milestone. The people who have struggled with alcohol addiction across this huge lifespan have had access to the direct support and friendship that has been offered by the multitude of volunteer sponsors. The relationships developed and the outcomes reached are based around the human engagement approach at the core of the service that only peer-to-peer services bring.
What does AA offer and what have we seen in Barlinnie? Research has shown that regular attendance at AA meetings significantly decreases alcohol-related consequences and overall drinking among recently-released prisoners. Through a supportive community, AA offers an approach that helps people focus on sobriety in prison and more importantly post-release. This sense of belonging and community is crucial for recovery. The access to AA services potentially anywhere in the world makes it practical and manageable for people to maintain support. People who have limited resource within themselves need the support and encouragement that the AA community offers when life’s stresses hit hardest.
AA is a familiar support network and on release is a major part of maintaining recovery, and we at HMP Barlinnie have recognised what AA and the sponsors do to support our people.
There are many challenges to operating the service in Barlinnie for the volunteers and it is admirable that despite these challenges they still have the energy and drive to provide that support. The people who have been in a difficult place with alcohol and are in recovery recognise how much people need them and that must provide the motivation to push past such obstacles. Volunteers know that their story can provide hope to the hopeless and help to the helpless and that the world exists through our own story.
Barlinnie is a big, busy machine that is difficult to navigate and I fully appreciate that it can be hard to deal with us, to find the time and space to operate; finding a time and a space to meet, organising volunteers to map to those times, frustrations over security issues and decisions – both for clearance and when we move people for operational reasons.
The above is not an exhaustive list, but all those issues can lead to inconsistent support and increased vulnerability and disruption to stability.
I know how difficult it can be to establish a foothold in Barlinnie, so it is remarkable to me that despite all this and more, AA in Barlinnie continues to support people toward a healthier future.
65 years of peer-to-peer support, of sharing stories and of creating a camaraderie has made a huge difference to a vast number of people over that time. Alcohol addiction is still a huge problem for many but hope still lies in the work and story of the volunteers who reinforce positive change and are a living embodiment of success. In the next few years Barlinnie will cease to exist but I am sure the AA service will be fully embedded in the new prison and be as valued in the future as it has been for the past 65 years.
Michael Stoney
Governor
HMP Barlinnie