Why Female Wardens Have Sex With Inmates –Psychiatrist

A forensic psychiatrist has shed light on the psychological factors that may drive female prison officers into illicit relationships with inmates.

A London-based forensic psychiatrist and creator of the YouTube channel A Psych for Sore Minds, Dr. Sohom Das, explores crime, mental health, and related issues on his platform.

Recent reports indicate a concerning rise in such incidents, with 29 female prison officers dismissed over the past three years for engaging in inappropriate relationships—more than triple the nine cases recorded between 2017 and 2019.

A record number of female prison guards were fired for having sex with male inmates in the past three years – with 29 given the sack. This compares to just nine women who lost their jobs for the same offence between 2017 and 2019.

In January this year, former HMP Wandsworth prison officer Linda De Sousa Abreu was sentenced to a 15 month custodial sentence after a film of her having sex with an inmate was shared online and went viral.

More recently, another officer Toni Cole, 29, was recently jailed for a year after being convicted of sharing 4,369 intimate messages with a con at Northamptonshire’s new ‘super-prison’ HMP Five Wells.

Appearing before Northampton Crown Court, Cole was also found to have partaken in 18 video calls with the inmate whilst engaging in ‘contact which was sexualised or flirtatious’.

There are multiple reasons female prison staff may engage in intimate relationships with inmates, according to Dr Das, who listed them in his video – including feelings of power and dominance.

Here are his top six reasons why it can occur.

1. Manipulation techniques

According to Dr Das, some female officers may take gratification from wooing prison inmates.

He explained: ‘Some inmates are skilled manipulators and may target vulnerable officers for personal gain or emotional gratification, and they may use flattery, charm or feigned vulnerability to gain the officers trust and to gain their affection.’

2. Grooming

The psychiatrist said that some inmates may groom officers by ‘slowly building up a relationship and breaking those boundaries with that officer over time’, thereby  breaking the professional boundaries gradually.

Speaking in the video, he added: ‘So what I’m saying is, obviously the inmates don’t just approach the officers and propose [that they have sex]… they start off with basic flirting, which escalates, and they eventually graduate.’

He added that as with all grooming behaviours, ‘including what you might see in people recruiting vulnerable people into cults or childhood sexual abuse’, the perpetrators ‘try to target individuals who they deem are vulnerable and susceptible’.

This may include people who are socially isolated, or perhaps those who have recently ended a relationship.

3. Officers seeking validation and attention from inmates

According to Dr Das, a ‘huge psychological factor at play here’ is when officers are ‘seeking validation and attention from inmates’.

He continued: ‘[This is] especially if they’re experiencing difficulties in their personal lives, and especially if they have low self esteem already. So for example, they might lack a strong support system outside of work.’

4. Past trauma or abuse  

‘So some officers might have a history of trauma or abuse, which can make them more susceptible to manipulation and exploitation,’ Dr Das explained in the video.

‘And the sad truth is that some people, especially women, gravitate towards what’s familiar rather than what is safe.’

He added that there is a well-known psychological phenomenon known as hybristophilia, a paraphilia involving attracted to and sexual interest in those who commit serious crimes.

The psychiatrist said this type of attraction ‘happens, actually, quite frequently’.

5. To feel a sense of power and control

‘Some officers might be drawn to the perceived power they have over inmates, leading to an abuse of power in the form of inappropriate relationships,’ according to Dr Das.

He added: ‘So they might feel that they’re manipulating the prisoner, especially if it’s a male guard and a female inmate, but in actuality, is probably the other way around.’

Explaining this idea further, he said that inmates ‘probably use these extra relationships to convince […] the officers do other things like bringing drugs, for example’.

6. The stressful work environment

Having worked himself in prisons, Dr Das said it’s ‘fair to say […] prison officers work in a high stress environment […] often facing challenges and situations dealing with difficult individuals’.

He added that there is ‘pretty much a constant threat of violence, at least in some prisons’, and that this can ‘lead to emotional vulnerability and just a need for validation and connection with the prisoners’.

Dr Das then said some people believe there is another reason female officers may have intimate relationships with inmates, which relates to ‘a lack of training and supervision’.

However, he said: ‘It could be argued at a stretch that insufficient training of professional boundaries and the dangers of inmate relationships and manipulation can leave officers vulnerable.

‘But I personally am going to go out on a limb here and suggest that trainee prison officers inherently know that carnal relationships are wrong.’

Dr Das noted that in his experience, during the induction given to those starting work in a prison, employees are ‘obviously told what’s inappropriate, and we’re told some horror stories […] they try and scare you a little bit by telling you stories of prison officers that have been caught and have served prison sentences’.

While he said that being told about these incidents is ‘interesting to listen to at the time […] it’s not actually that effective.

Instead, he proposed, if institutions want to decrease the risk of inappropriate behaviours, a more effective option would be to ‘get somebody with lived experience to come in’ and discuss the topic.

According to Dr Das, they may be able to share what happened to them. He said: ‘[They could] explain and say, “look, it’s not as obvious as you think. There is these this grooming behaviour, this gradual pushing of these boundaries, this is how it’s happened to me, this is how it kind of slipped under my radar,” and explain what it’s actually like.’

Watch more here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kNLHDJkOvg