interview
Island Life - April/May 2010
may be thinking: Just what you’d expect from
a woman. Governing by the soft option. But
Vicky is emphatic that this is not the case: “It’s
hardly a soft option to say ‘OK now I’ve got
these people in prison, what am I going to
do to change their attitudes and behaviour?’
If we lock prisoners up and do nothing with
them, they won’t have changed a single bit
when they get out. Just as, if your car goes on
the blink and you lock it in the garage for 18
months, you wouldn’t be surprised if it’s still
not working when you get it out.”
So the care and attention received by a
prisoner or a detainee is not soft at all, but
about changing them so they don’t reoffend.
That way she’s fulfilling her brief to the tax
payer.
She is quick to correct any impression that
under a woman’s leadership the atmosphere
is anodyne and humourless. “We’re not overly
Photo: Vicky pictured, at the WRAC Centre
Guildford, in 1979.
being a woman enables that intuitive side to
the job. Vicky Baker readily concurs, adding;
“The skills women bring to bear are about
inclusivity and team building. If you build a
good team at senior level, and ensure your staff
politically correct,” she smiles. “Y