TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION A list of topics is provided in the Manual. Methodology: The trainees should be divided into small groups for discussion. It is useful for all the groups to consider all the topics, some of which refer directly to trainees’ own place of work. Eight topics are listed, but the responses to some of them are likely to be brief. Points to be highlighted/suggested areas for discussion: 39. – The advantages of raising or lowering the maximum age at which a child is allowed to stay in prison with his or her mother must be considered as applying to the mother and the child; the interests of the two do not necessarily coincide; 39. – The mother may want the child, but the child may benefit from a more stimulating environment; 39. – On the other hand, a child might suffer severe trauma at being separated from his or her mother; 39. – Older children need activity; the relationship can best be stimulated if the mother is able to demonstrate that she is aware of what the child is doing daily outside the prison. Books, art materials and cooking facilities would improve time spent on a visit; 39. – Women who have their children with them in prison must be able to engage in constructive activities on a regular basis. Learning and playing facilities are necessary. A play leader or teacher would make a huge difference to the quality of the children’s lives, as would access to a library; 39. – Holding a woman with an infant child in solitary confinement should be avoided unless absolutely necessary. It is hard to envisage any circumstances in which this should be necessary. A mother with an infant could still be in the post-natal phase and in need of companionship and sensitive care. The infant will need regular medical checks and monitoring to ensure that it is feeding correctly and gaining weight; 39. – Opposite-gender working in prisons raises the question of the power relationship between men and women; 39. – Although there may be no difference in the efficiency levels of the staff, it is likely that female officers will receive more verbal abuse and physical threats from male prisoners than male officers receive from female prisoners; 39. – It is unacceptable for male prison staff to be unsupervised around female prisoners’ living areas; 39. – Male staff must never be involved in the searching of female prisoners; 39. – In a well-run establishment, a female member of staff can do her job alongside her male colleagues. It is generally considered that the presence of female colleagues has a calming and improving effect on behaviour. There remains only the issue of searching to deal with; 141