Rules to visiting prision

One of the merits of being a social worker is experiencing aspects of other peoples lives that I wouldnt normally encounter. Last year i got to go to court several times to support teenagers caught up in trouble, and i also got to visit a prision.

Some of the novelty of this was the whole new set of social rules that this dictates. Assumably people regularly visiting get used to these and know them not as a list. However, for my first visit this list was odd. More interesting is to try and guess the reasons behind these rules. Without further ado here is the dress code:

• no uniforms (except school uniforms, or police officers on legal visits)
• no ponchos
• no baseball caps
• no florescent tops
• no sunglasses
• no cuff links
• no watches
• no chains that assemble key chains
• skirts, dresses and shorts must be no higher than just above the knee
• no crop tops or see through clothing which reveal the stomach

and my favourites

• only one pair of trousers to be worn at any one time 
• All clothing to be worn as intended to be worn.

As a legal visitor i was also obliged to adhere to the following:

• No more than 2 pens
• no spiral back pads 
• no bull dog clips
• Laptop with prior written agreement
• no phone.

It was an interesting time. It helped that i really liked the lad we were visiting.