Unhappy Staff, Unhappy Prisoners? The Relation between Work Climate and Prison Climate in Dutch Prisons

Abstract

Interactions between prison officers and incarcerated individuals are considered very important for maintaining safety, order, and promoting well-being in prisons. There are conflicting findings regarding the relationship between prison officers’ work climate and prisoners’ perceptions of prison climate. The aim of this paper is to explore in further detail how different aspects of work climate are related to incarcerated individuals' perceptions of prison climate.

This is investigated using data from the Life in Custody Study, which is a nation-wide survey among adults incarcerated in the Netherlands. Data were collected in 2017, and included survey responses from 4,538 incarcerated individuals, as well as administrative data. Additionally, data were obtained from a survey simultaneously conducted (by a third party) among employees about work attitudes. A selection was made to include responses from correctional staff, and to exclude units with a response rate lower than 40 % or less than 5 respondents. This resulted in 1,508 correctional officers across 135 units. A multilevel analysis was conducted with prison climate dimensions as dependent variables on the individual and unit level.

In line with our expectations, workload was negatively associated with some dimensions of prison climate, while co-worker support showed positive associations. The results from this study show that staff and prisoner perceptions are linked, which means that stressors on either prisoners or staff are likely to have an impact on both. Therefore, it is important to invest in a positive work and prison climate, which is likely to benefit prison staff and prisoners.