A "GROUND-BREAKING" initiative from the USA, helping people cope with trauma based on past experiences, is being delivered in Scottish prisons.

The Compassion Prison Project, which has worked with prisoners in major correctional facilities in America, is being offered at Barlinnie and other jails.

The programme focuses on the long-term impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs).

Scottish group Sisco, which develops and delivers recovery programmes in prisons, has brought the team from the USA to Scotland.

Sisco has been working with the Tigers Group and ACE Aware Nation on the project in prisons.

Natalie Logan Maclean, chief executive of Sisco, said: “This has never been done here before. It is a ground-breaking initiative.”

She said the workshops are about helping people understand adult trauma as a result of ACEs and how it can impact on their lives.

Ms Logan Maclean explained that often people who have experienced ACEs can go on to experience problems and issues in their adult life.

It is also possible they could be displaying behaviour that could be passing on similar trauma to their children.

The project is working with long-term prisoners in Barlinnie Prison. So far, 38 men at the jail have taken part in the scheme.

It is also being delivered at Addiewell Prison with 22 men, and 19 women prisoners are also due to take part in the next week.

Sisco will deliver the longer-term follow-up work after the initial sessions, which have been led by the team from the USA.

The work includes the compassion trauma circle, where people are encouraged and helped to open up about their experiences.

Compassion Prison Project said: “We’ve found that sharing, addressing and examining the impacts of childhood trauma through open dialogue creates a tremendous opening for healing to begin.”

Compassion Prison Project has found that ACEs are disproportionately high within the prison system and wants to focus on “care not punishment” in the criminal justice system.

The organisation said it is “focused on bringing childhood trauma awareness, education and healing to prisons and communities both in the US and globally”.

Founder of the project Fritzi Horstman said: "I had a chance to express my concerns whereas, similar to those in the US, the prisons here are still built on anti-social structures and systems, focused on custody and control rather than humanity and healing. The prison residents all have ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) and because of the anti-social system, their mental health and well-being are compromised which is why drug abuse proliferates (similarly so in the US)."

In the USA, 64% of the population has at least one ACE and 16% have four or more, but in the prison population it is 97% and 78% have four or more.

In Scotland, a Scottish Prison Service survey in 2017 noted research into ACEs has often made the link between negative experiences during childhood and incarceration.

It said a study examining the impact of ACEs on a sample UK population in 2015 highlighted that, “the odds of having been incarcerated were 20.4 times higher for those who had experienced four or more ACEs compared to those who had experienced none”.

ACEs include emotional, physical or sexual abuse, emotional neglect, physical neglect, adult substance abuse, parents living apart, a parent with a mental health condition and a parent being in prison.

Ms Logan Maclean said the project has been championed by prison governers and said Michael Stoney, Barlinnie governor, has been a supporter.

She added: “It wouldn’t be possible without his support.”

Ms Horstman added: "In spite of the horrendous housing conditions at Barlinnie; men warehoused in depressing holes in the wall, some for 23 hours a day, a new facility is being built which will give the men and the staff an environment supportive of healing and education. Like many of the prisons in Scotland these facilities need to focus their attention on getting the men out of seclusion and isolation into pro-social environments to help foster healthier behaviors and encourage more social and empathetic personalities."

The Scottish Prison Service said it was delighted to have Compassion Prison Project involved.

A spokesperson said: “The Scottish Prison Service welcomes the use of trauma-informed approaches in supporting the rehabilitation of those in our care.

“We fully understand that adverse childhood experiences can have a significant impact on the challenges people experience later in life, and that appropriate support is required in order to address this.

"We are delighted to welcome Compassion Prison Project into our establishments.”