BASELINE FOR SUCCESSFUL REHABILITATION To play a positive role in this process, staff must be able to work in safe conditions, be well supported by their managers and have the opportunity and time to think creatively and engage with prisoners. They should be carefully selected and provided with appropriate and ongoing training, including in human rights and the concept of dynamic security.53 Where possible, prison staff should also include a sufficient number of specialists such as psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, teachers and trade instructors.54 The Bangkok Rules specify that capacity building for staff employed in women’s prisons should enable them to address the specific social reintegration needs of women prisoners, and that all staff assigned to working with women prisoners should receive training relating to the gender-specific needs and human rights of women prisoners.55 Prison authorities should also ensure that there is an adequate staff-prisoner ratio and make particular efforts to hire a diverse range of employees, including sufficient female staff. Women prisoners should be supervised only by women staff members.56 CONTEXT: Gender-sensitive management style For the rehabilitation of female prisoners to be successful, there needs to be a recognition amongst prison management that women prisoners have different requirements to men and that these different needs must be reflected in the management ethos, with changes being made to management style, assessment and classification, programmes offered, healthcare, and the treatment of women with children. The following have been identified as some of the requisite ingredients for a gender-sensitive management style in women’s prisons:57 22 | • The recognition of the different needs of women. • A capacity and willingness by prison staff to communicate openly with prisoners and use a non-authoritarian manner. • Skills such as active listening and patience in explaining rules and expectations. • Awareness of emotional dynamics, and the capacity to respond firmly and fairly. Penal Reform International and Thailand Institute of Justice | Guide to the rehabilitation and social reintegration of women prisoners