Looking out as well as in

Drawing on the early findings of a doctoral study exploring prison yoga teaching in UK prisons, this chapter examines the connections between Justice Social Workers and Prison Yoga Teachers (PYTs), arguing that many features of their work are shared. It sets out the religious origins of the social work profession and how religion has shaped penal practices. Renewed interest in religion and spirituality for social workers reflects the growing research on religious and spiritual programmes taking place in prisons worldwide including prison yoga. Evidence indicates that engagement with these practices can enhance resilience and wellbeing, but the racist, classist, and sexist nature of the carceral logics in which these interventions are embedded only serves to undermine their liberatory potential. JSWs and PYTs based in these environments risk complicity in upholding harmful and oppressive practices. Critical self-awareness and reflexivity are essential if they are to resist the destructive effects of ‘secondhand carcerality’, a process where they become agents of the state and implicated in contributory suffering. It is argued that joining together, learning from each other, and campaigning for political change have the potential to produce a more inclusive and compassionate future.