From prison guards to… what? Occupational development of prison officers in Sweden and Norway

Abstract

Prison officers are a key group of civil servants in the criminal justice system. Based on a comparative study of the systems for vocational education in Sweden and Norway, this article compares policies and strategies for developing the prison officer occupation. Differences in this domain are analysed against the backdrop of theories about professionalization and growing differences between these countries concerning the ends and means of prison policy in general. Data come from interviews and documents collected in 2013–2014, as well as a rereading of data from two earlier prison-research projects. Results show that Norway is adopting a strategy quite similar to the one behind the birth of the so-called welfare professions during the heyday of the social-democratic welfare state. In Sweden, the continuing division of labour is leading to enhanced skills among some specialized subgroups, such as security and programme staff, but a reduction in qualifications for the majority. The study should be of interest in relation to different strategies for developing the work of prison officers as well as of other categories of public servants. It points to growing differences between two welfare regimes that used to be quite similar, not least concerning the prison policy field.

Keywords:

• Prison officers
• prison policy
• Nordic exceptionalism
• professionalization
• occupations occupational roles

Acknowledgements

Special thanks to all stakeholders and personnel who have given us information and taken part in the interviews.

Notes

1. Esping-Andersen’s theory concerns different types of political regimes in Western advanced capitalist democracies. He discerns three different such regimes: liberal, conservative and social democratic. (See also Bruhn, Nylander, & Lindberg, 2016; Garland, 2016).

2. NFF (Norsk fengsels- og friomsorgsforbund), KY (Kriminalomsorgens yrkesforbund). These unions organize almost all prison officers in Norway. The larger one – NFF – belongs to LO, the umbrella organization for blue-collar workers. The other – KY – almost as big, belongs to YS, the white-collar umbrella organization.

3. SEKO (Service- och kommunikationsfacket), ST (Statstjänstemannaförbundet).

4. These motives became clear in the radio news broadcast Dagens EKO 28/1–2012, and the debate between the authors of this article and the personnel manager of the authority in SECO-tidningen 6/2, 9/2 and 7/3 – 2012.

5. The purpose of the evaluation was to go through the events of 22 July 2011, when 77 people were killed in terror attacks against the Government and a political youth summer camp on the island of Utøya, in order to determine how Norwegian society should prepare to both prevent and respond to possible future attacks.

6. For example, in the annual report of the Correctional Service for 2014 (http://www.kriminalomsorgen.no/arsrapport-2014.5752153-237613.html), the GD writes (p. 3) that the utilization of the prison capacity has been 98% this year.

7. Knut Storberget (The Labour Party) who presented the above referred St.meld.nr. 37 (2007–2008) to the Parliament.