Recent work on legitimacy within criminal justice systems have drawn attention to self-legitimacy; that is, criminal justice professionals’ own recognition of their entitlement to power. The evidence on this aspect of legitimacy remains sparse and mainly from police studies. We know almost nothing about the self-legitimacy of prison officers. This paper contributes to filling this gap, with an empirical focus on prison officers in Slovenia. Specifically, it explores the correlates of officer self-legitimacy and the implications of self-legitimacy for commitments to the rights of prisoners and to the organisation. Results from multiple regression analyses show that quality of interpersonal relationships among officers, perceived audience legitimacy (that is, officers’ sense of their moral standing among prisoners), and distributive justice predicted self-legitimacy. Self-legitimacy was associated with increased commitment to fair treatment of prisoners but it was irrelevant to organisational commitment. The implications of these findings are discussed.

This paper focuses on the self-legitimacy of prison staff in Slovenia. The primary aim of this study is to identify possible differences between those factors that influence the self-legitimacy of prison officers in different periods, which would confirm the applicability of some of the theoretical assumptions on the unstable nature of self-legitimacy. Possible differences between groups of prison workers will be explored. The results show that perceptions of supervisors' procedural justice, relations with colleagues, audience legitimacy and age are the best predictors of self-legitimacy. These findings highlight the unstable nature of self-legitimacy and, moreover, the perceptions of self-legitimacy vary over time and in different groups of prison workers. The implications of these findings will be discussed.

The concept of justice and punishment in Finland is deeply rooted in the Nordic philosophy of general prevention, and changes in Finnish society during the last few decades are reflected in the incidences of recorded crime which, in most categories, has declined. A common feature of the Finnish criminal justice system today is the use of comparatively mild sanctions as compared to other European countries, with a heavy emphasis on fines and non‐incarceration. These developments are evident in other Scandinavian countries as well, indicating that perhaps there are similar factors (e.g., political, social, cultural) affecting the region.

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Although Slovenia has one of the lowest incarceration rates in the world, there are not enough facilities to house the current inmate population, and prison overcrowding is becoming a serious problem in the country. This article addresses this issue, beginning with an in-depth history of penology and penal practices in Slovenia and concluding with suggestions to deal with this potentially disastrous situation. If the imprisonment rate in Slovenia does not decrease in the near future, or if Slovenia cannot create more capacity, prison overcrowding will grow beyond acceptable standards. The present situation in Slovene prisons calls for a multidisciplinary research and cost/benefit analysis. The Slovenian prison administration is challenged by its budget and staff resources. However, it is argued that the problem goes beyond this capacity and requires a serious reconsideration of penal policy, criminal court practice, and parole committee practices as well. It is also necessary to emphasize that Slovenia is the only country in the European Union without a probation service system.