Prison climate and work experience in the context of job differentiation

• In Event: Prison Working Group: Prison climate and quality of life

Abstract

The Law of 23 March 2019 provides for the introduction of a new surveillance method in Belgian prisons. This new working method is aimed primarily at prison staff responsible for surveillance. It defines a differentiation of tasks between security assistants and detention supervisors. Currently, this new working method is only being established in some prisons, before being extended more widely.

Prior to the extension of this new working method, an evaluation of the practice is being carried out in four Belgian prisons (two applying the differentiation of tasks and two not yet applying it) through a study of the living climate of inmates and the working climate of prison staff. The aim of this study is to compare the experience of these two groups of prisons in order to determine: how living conditions in prison are perceived by inmates in prisons with and without job differentiation and to study how the working climate is perceived by staff in prisons with and without job differentiation.

This presentation will focus on the results of the survey carried out among inmates concerning the prison/living climate within the four prisons. To achieve this purpose, a questionnaire has been developed based on the ‘Prison Climate Questionnaire’ (PCQ).The next stages of the project will also be presented. The research started in November 2023 and will run until mid-2025.

Authors

• Elodie Schils, NICC - National Institute of Criminalistics and Criminology

• Luc Robert, INCC - Institut National de Criminalistique et de Criminologie

• Eric Maes, INCC - Institut National de Criminalistique et de Criminologie

• Elien Goossens, National Institute of Criminalistics and Criminology