Sabah Moran – My Journey to the Jail

Senior Vice-President Charles welcomed everyone to the meeting, including the speaker for the evening, Sabah Moran, and visitor Michael Arthur (Rotary Club of Carluke).

Prospective new member, David Grieve, had hoped to make his third visit to the Club, however, he had to call off earlier this afternoon.

S.V.P Charles highlighted an item of Interesting Rotary Information from the Rotary Action Group Against Slavery (RAGAS) Summit which President Katrina had submitted to him in her absence:

Rotary Human Trafficking – Offering Hope for a Better Tomorrow

Modern Day Slavery (Human Trafficking) is a criminal activity that is a word-wide business, generating $150 billion annually. It takes many forms – forced labour, debt bondage, sex trafficking, domestic servitude, on-line child sexual exploitation.  It is estimated that it impacts over 40 million men, women and children in over 167 countries.

A recent Trafficking in Persons Report (T.I.P.) recognised that governments must play a role in eradicating human trafficking, however for success, it stated that the actions of individual community members at a local level, play a critical role in fighting human trafficking, since these people are often the eyes and ears of their local communities. 

The T.I.P. report made it clear that eradication of human trafficking required not only prosecution, protection and prevention but also partnership.  Rotary International is committed to generating these critical partnerships by fostering the exchange of best practices among its grassroots members, national and local governments, law enforcement, as well as business and individual communities.  The RAGAS Summit brought together experts from all of these domains.  Its goal was not to identify the problem but to design creative solutions

S.V.P. Charles introduced tonight’s speaker, Sabah Moran, and her talk was entitled “My Journey to the Jail”.

Sabah studied psychology at Manchester University.  She could not get a job in psychology, so she became an administrative assistant in a prison in Kent.  She realised she was over-qualified and became a prison officer in London.  Her mission was to change people’s behaviour and so she became involved in various “Offender Behaviour Programmes”, with a view to rehabilitating prisoners. Sabah spoke about the widely held belief - the way we interpret an event, decides how we react. Prisoners were taught to analyse irrational behaviour and given the skills to prevent this.

Sabah’s main job as a prison officer was working with sex offenders.  She was involved in various “Sex Offenders’ Treatment Programmes”, each lasting 6 months and each involving groups of 8 prisoners. Things discussed in the groups were – individual’s history and background; factors that contributed to their behaviour; recognising triggers for offending; how to manage risks; setting targets for the future.

Sabah eventually went back to university and gained an Honours Degree in Forensic Psychology. She returned to the prison service, doing reports on high risk offenders due for release.  She found this job to be less about treatment and working with offenders and more about “pen pushing”. Since she was not getting any job satisfaction she left the prison service.  Sabah now works part-time in another job but makes good use of the skills and techniques she used in prisons.

After a series of questions, David McLeod, on behalf of the Rotarians present, thanked Sabah for a very informative and interesting talk. 

Burns Night:

Des Donnelly spoke about a book published in Philadelphia in 1828 that he had received from his niece in Canada.  The book contained the complete works of Robert Burns and an anthology of his letters and writings as well as an account of his life.  There were some press cuttings in the book which proved the influence of Burns and the high regard in which he was held in American society.

Foundation:

Willie Talbot reported that the Bonus Ball had been a roll-over.  He also reported that emails had been sent out to members notifying their credit/debit status with regard to the Bonus Ball/Numbers Club.

Treasurer: