The Prison Officer

This is a thoroughly updated edition of The Prison Officer. The book provides an accessible and interesting guide to the world and work of the prison officer, showing the centrality of staff/prisoner relationships to every operation carried out by officers. So little has been written about prison officers in comparison to prisoners and this book addresses the gap. This book will be relevant to anyone with an interest in the work of a prison officer and will be essential for established and aspiring officers.

This book is a thoroughly updated version of the popular first edition of The Prison Officer. It incorporates the significant increase in knowledge about the work of prison officer since the first edition was published and provides a live account of prison work and ways of understanding the role of the prison officer in the late-modern context. Few detailed narratives exist of prison work and the sort of role the prison officer occupies; this book addresses the gap. Using a range of quantitative and qualitative data and drawing on available theoretical literature it explores the role of the prison officer in an ‘appreciative’ way, taking into account the little-discussed issues of power and discretion. It provides a single accessible guide to the world and work of the prison officer, looking in detail at the present role of the prison officer in Britain and demonstrating the centrality of staff-prisoner relationships to every operation carried out by officers. This book will be of relevance to anyone with an interest in the work of a prison officer; students and others looking for an introductory survey of the literature and essential reading for any established and aspiring officers.

1. Introduction: Prison Officers at Their Best 2. Who is the Prison Officer? 3. Understanding Prison Officers and Their Role 4. The Complexities of Role 5. Staff–Prisoner Relationships: The Heart of Prison Work 6. The Centrality of Discretion in the Work of Prison Officers 7. Prison Officer Culture and Unionisation 8. The Prison Officer in a Modern Bureaucracy 9. Conclusions

Alison Liebling is Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Cambridge and Director of the Prisons Research Centre; David Price worked as a research assistant and co-author on the first edition and now works in IT; Guy Shefer is a research assistant at the Institute of Psychiatry, London.