IN-CJ Newsdesk 2025 – Shazad Ali Carbaidwala ‘Supporting Incarcerated People’

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | TuneIn | RSS

This discussion with Shazad Ali Carbaidwala reflects the complex and often hidden pressures faced by practitioners working at the intersection of criminal justice, community experience, and lived vulnerability. Speaking candidly about the expectations placed on frontline staff and the communities they support, Shazad describes a working environment shaped as much by social conditions as by organisational structures. His reflections point to gaps in support, the persistence of stigma, and the difficulty of sustaining compassionate practice when systems are strained.

What emerges is a grounded account of responsibility and care. Shazad highlights the emotional demands placed on individuals who often hold together fragile situations with limited resources. He also notes how readily public discussion turns towards blame, overlooking the structural factors that shape outcomes. Throughout the conversation there is a call for patience, for recognition of the pressures that shape decision-making, and for a more open acknowledgment of the constraints facing staff and service users alike.

This episode also reminds us that many practitioners navigate personal and professional challenges simultaneously. Shazad frames his own experience not as exceptional but as representative of many colleagues who continue to support others while carrying their own burdens. His account encourages a more human understanding of criminal justice work, where empathy is not an optional extra but a practical necessity.

The conversation offers a valuable moment to pause and consider how systems might better recognise the emotional and relational labour involved in supporting people at moments of crisis. It also suggests that change requires more than procedural reform; it requires a cultural shift towards listening, understanding, and sustained care. The Newsdesk provides a forum for these reflections, capturing the nuance of experience that is often lost in policy debate. This discussion is both a testament to the resilience of practitioners and an invitation to think differently about the conditions under which they work.