Procedural justice in prison: Examining female inmates’ experiences, perceptions, and interactions with correctional officers

Abstract

There are challenges associated with practicing procedural justice in prison. According to Blader and Tyler (2003, as cited in Barkworth, 2021, p. 65), procedural justice is the perceived fairness of the treatment received and the procedures used during decisionmaking. A prison environment is complex, and the responsibility for demonstrating procedural justice for all inmates is shared equally among all correctional staff. Correctional officers, however, are placed in a challenging position as their job requires them to maintain order, instill punitive measures when necessary, and ensure the safety and security of all, while maintaining a good rapport with inmates (Abdel-Salam et al., 2023; Bottoms & Tankebe, 2012). Such rapport allowed correctional officers to learn about issues and concerns related to institutional operations, thus establishing a line of communication between the inmates and prison administrators (Abdel-Salam & Sunde, 2018), and further developing procedural justice within correctional facilities.