As in many transitioning countries, Bulgarian prisons are infamous for the poor conditions afflicting inmates and staff alike. Prisoners face overcrowding, a shortage of hygienic materials, and limited opportunities for productive work. Penitentiary staff, meanwhile, works in a high-risk environment for which they are under-resourced and under-trained. As a result, individual conflicts among prisoners, between prisoners and staff, and among staff members themselves often escalate and spiral out of control. Because of the difficulty of working in such a highly charged environment, few efforts have been made to introduce peaceful conflict resolution mechanisms into the prisons.

Partners-Bulgaria decided to tackle this situation by developing a program to foster prison reform. In this initiative, Partners-Bulgaria trained prison security officers, administrators, social workers and psychologists in conflict prevention and resolution, and then worked with penitentiary staff to apply these skills in their daily activities in prisons across Bulgaria. The training gave participants new communication and negotiation techniques, crisis and conflict management skills, and introduced institutionalized mediation into prisons. Since concluding the trainings, Partners-Bulgaria has continued to work with prison staff to utilize their new skills.

Violence has been averted or contained in numerous conflicts among prisoners and guards through Partners-Bulgaria’s program. For example, violence between two prisoners fighting over the use of a phone was prevented through mediation. The mediator helped the men to realize that the stress caused by the limited time they were allowed on the phone was causing them to lose control of their behavior, and the two men apologized to one another. In another instance, a conflict broke out when a young disabled prisoner had to share a cell and bunk bed with a long-term prisoner convicted of murder; the long-term prisoner refused to relinquish the status of sleeping in the lower bed, while the new prisoner’s disability prevented him from sleeping in the upper bed. A social activities inspector mediated a session in which both parties clarified their differences and reached an agreement in which the long-term prisoner agreed to sleep in the upper bed until a vacancy allowed the disabled prisoner to move to a new cell.

Numerous other interpersonal conflicts among the prisoners have been resolved, lessening animosity and preventing physical violence. Even in cases in which a prisoner is habitually hostile and difficult, mediators can help the prisoner analyze his situation and obtain his cooperation. And in cases in which violence does break out among prisoners, a mediator can help defuse the conflict and prevent further attacks.

In addition, many disputes over control arise in the prison system, both among prisoners and staff. Mediators assist individuals in talking through their feelings – of being disrespected or taken advantage of – and arriving at a mutually agreeable resolution. In one instance, an inspector from a Sofia prison faced a violent conflict between two prison guards that threatened to escalate. Exacerbating the situation, one of the guards was planning to sue the other and report the incident to the press. Utilizing his skills from Partners-Bulgaria’s training, the inspector mediated the case; he visited with both of the guards, studied the roots of the conflict, and analyzed the interests and intentions of the two parties. The inspector soon discovered that the conflict centered on the supervision of a group of prisoners. Within two hours of identifying this issue, the inspector had facilitated a resolution in which the guards agreed to share responsibility and arrived at a productive working relationship. This particular mediation improved leadership for prison inmates, spared the court system the burden of a case, and averted a public relations fiasco for the prison.

Through this program, Partners-Bulgaria has supported an often-ignored societal institution. As a result, a highly at-risk environment is witnessing the efficient and peaceful settlement of conflict, and minor incidents are often prevented from escalating into widespread violence.