Journal
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF CRIMINOLOGY
Volume 8, Issue 6, Pages 515-529Publisher
SAGE PUBLICATIONS LTD
DOI: 10.1177/1477370811413819
Keywords
exceptional prison conditions; prison culture; prison size; quality of prison life
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This paper discusses the quality of prison life and prison size in relation to the notion of 'Scandinavian exceptionalism'. Using the questionnaires 'Measuring the Quality of Prison Life' (MQPL) for prisoners and 'Staff Measuring the Quality of Prison Life' (SQL) for staff, data were collected from all 32 closed prisons in Norway. Based on the assumption that prison officers' working lives, their perspectives and their values influence prisoners' quality of life, the main focus in the paper is on the officers. Small prisons (fewer than 50 prisoners) obtain more positive results than medium-sized (50-100) and large (more than 100) prisons, on several dimensions measured. The relationship between officers and prisoners seems to be of better quality in small prisons than in medium-sized and large prisons. Officers in small prisons also report more positive relationships with senior management than their colleagues in medium-sized and large prisons. The results are discussed in light of previous studies on officers and prison working life dynamics.
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