Correctional Staff Perceptions of Prison Normalization: Obstructing or Facilitating Implementation?

• In Event: Correctional Officer Roles

Abstract

As correctional agencies implement reforms such as normalization, or making life in prison as close as possible to life outside prison to ease reintegration, it is crucial to ensure staff understanding and support. However, correctional staff are often believed to have punitive attitudes inconducive to rehabilitative reforms and seen as a potential barrier. In this study, researchers administered a survey to assess the opinions of staff in a state correctional agency as the agency began an initiative to normalize the prison environment. Researchers analyzed frequencies for responses to Likert-style questions and coded themes using a semi-grounded emergent theme approach for responses to open-ended questions. Respondents generally supported normalization despite security concerns, indicating that staff views may be more positive than expected. Implications for correctional agencies considering normalization are discussed.

Authors

• Amy Maniola Allen, RTI International

• Nicole Jasperson, RTI International

• Anna Kosloski, University of Colorado Colorado Springs

• Katrina Hudson, University of Colorado Colorado Springs