From prison guards to… what? Occupational development of prison officers in Sweden and Norway

The Application of Norwegian Humane Ideals by Front-Line Workers When Collaboratively Reintegrating Inmates Back into Society

“…Prisons in Norway are said to belong to a humane tradition and culture with an underpinning value of penal welfare, together with a long reputation and tradition for pursuing humanistic prison policies that embrace rehabilitation within prisons (Pratt & Eriksson, 2013). As front-line professionals are considered the key individuals who transform the aims and policies of the government and the prison system into practice (Bruhn et al 2017), greater demands have been placed on the Correctional Service and the ideals of front-line personnel in prisons to work collaboratively. This position reflects the traditions in the Norwegian penal code to implement agreements and joint instructions to contribute towards co-creating effective positive solutions for inmates before, during, and after a sentence.…”

“…Consequently, the underpinning traditions/norms of the Norwegian prison system informed the professionals' shared ideals, which in turn, stimulated collaborative practice among the workforces. Bruhn et al (2017) discuss the daily regimes that involve interactions 24 hours a day with prisoners while constantly guarding, helping, caring, and motivating those sent to prison, the dilemmas of prison work therefore stem from the need to find a balance between security procedures and rehabilitative work in everyday practice. The ongoing occupational development and professionalisation of prison officers is said to run consistent with the central aims of Norwegian prison policy, developing the humanistic side of the prison establishment with a focus on openness, respect, and professionalism.…”

“…Norwegian prison officer training and practice emphasises the humanistic side of the prison establishment (Bruhn et al, 2017) and organisational penal policy, such as the Norwegian government White Paper no. 37 ( 2008) Criminal punishment -Less crime-Safer society, outlines the key principles of security, rehabilitation, and reintegration.…”

“…Effective collaboration between all relevant bodies is essential if the rehabilitative and reintegration process is to be successful. The importance of cross-agency and management cooperation is recognised in the Norwegian penal code (Execution of Sentences Act, 2002), in the Kriminalomsorgen (2005) Occupational Guidelines for Correctional Care and manifested in the national educational curriculum of prison officers (Bruhn et al, 2017), cooperation agreements and joint instructions between agencies.…”

“…Front-line staff are also those individuals who in their occupational role implement the aims and policies of government. As such they dictate how the values and principles written in policy documents are implemented in the prison system (Bruhn et al, 2017). Fundamentally, front-line professionals are the crucial individuals, known by Lipsky (2010) as the street-level bureaucrats in public service employment, who perform their day-to-day work under certain structured conditions.…”