Becoming a Prison Officer: An Analysis of the Early Development of Prison Officer Cultures

Abstract

Despite the fact that over recent years, imprisonment in Scotland has adopted a bold and aspirational policy direction including proposed reforms to the role of the prison officer, there has been little research into prison officers in Scotland, and by extension, the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) as an organisation. This article offers a unique empirical insight into prison officer recruits and evolving prison officer cultures, by longitudinally tracking 31 prison officer recruits over training and early working experience. The article provides an in‐depth perspective on prison officer recruits’ views and experiences, and it also makes a contribution to the emerging area of research of the SPS through a focus on organisational change and reform. Finally, it incorporates, and further develops, a body of literature on penality and the penal state by interrogating the tensions between policy and practice within the context of the Scottish penal system.

Leadership in Canadian and French high security prisons expectations and perceptions

“…In both jurisdictions, these expectations appeared at times contradictory, with, for example, the need for authority and enforcement, but at the same time, as the literature has shown (Chauvenet et al, 1994;Herzog-Evans, 1998) and again (e.g. Morrison and Maycock, 2021), the desire for rules to be, in some cases, bent. In contrast, we did notice a stronger penchant for change in Canada, compared to a desire to stick to tradition and paternalism in France.…”

Self-Legitimacy of Prison Workers and Treatment of Correctional Clients: A Study in Slovenian Prisons

“…Most individuals decide to work in prison for two reasons: (a) economic pragmatism (e.g., salary, working conditions, location, and possibility of promotion) and (b) self-actualization (desire to improve oneself and help others) (Arnold, 2016; Morrison & Maycock, 2021). The desire for personal improvement and helping others leads to the development of feelings of obligation to fair treatment of correctional clients that influence prison workers’ perception of themselves.…”

Socialization Across the Three Stages of the Correctional Service of Canada’s Correctional Officer Training Program: An Ethnographic Study

“…134-135). Although research on CO cultures is rather limited, the role orientations and attitudes of officers are thought to shape the occupational culture, which varies across prisons, units, and organizations, to some degree (Crewe, Liebling, & Hulley, 2011; see also Sparks, Bottoms, & Hay, 1996;Morrison & Maycock, 2021). Explicitly, Crewe and his colleagues (2011) found that "attitudes do not translate into behavior in a straightforward manner.…”