1st Edition
Role Exit in Prison Officers Returning to ‘Civvy Street’
Role Exit Within Prison Officers: Returning to ‘Civvy Street’ explores the reasons why prison officers leave His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) England and Wales and examines the processes and trajectories involved in returning back to civilian life, which is referred to as ‘civvy street’.
Writing from their experiences as ex-prison officers now working in academia, the authors draw upon ‘insider’ positionality of their own ex-prison officer narratives, which has shaped and developed their research design. They also employ interview data collected from other ex-prison officers to identify the rewards and challenges of working within a prison environment, with Ebaugh’s (1988) role exit theory serving as a theoretical framework to offer an original approach to understanding the lived experience of prison officers who leave the service. The authors address issues including the impact of austerity, Voluntary Early Departure Scheme (VEDS), the decline in transmission of knowledge to staff (‘jail craft’), high staff turnover, increased violence and the impact of COVID-19 on prison officer retention rates. Barriers towards workplace integration, burnout and the culture of ‘presenteeism’ are prevalent themes alongside difficulties experienced when transitioning back into civilian life. This is balanced with an exposition of what ex-prison officers recall positively about their time in service, such as loyalty, support, solidarity, pride at wearing the uniform and helping prisoners with their custodial lives. The book also makes practical recommendations, including the need for sustainability and retention within the prison officer workforce; to re-establish the role of prison officer as a ‘career’; to lower the age of retirement to match the police/fire service; to place a greater emphasis upon building the morale of staff and a wider recognition of the impact of trauma to support (ex) prison officers.
Giving authentic insights into the role of prison officers, the issues they face and subsequent reasons for leaving the service, this book is ideal reading for students and academics within the fields of criminology, penology, criminal justice, sociology, and criminal and occupational psychology. It will also be of great interest to criminal justice practitioners and organisations such as Unlocked Graduates, the Howard League for Penal Reform and the Prison Reform Trust.
1. Introduction - Returning to Civvy Street: Role exit in prison officers
Introduction
Prisons and prison officers
Vision and rationale for the study
Introduction to our methodological approach
Aims of the study
Overview of chapters
Summary of key findings
Importance of our research – Why does this matter for criminology and criminal justice?
2. Prison Officers and Penal Environments
Introduction
Motivations to become a prison officer
Prison officer training through different eras
What is prison officer training?
Limitations of prison officer training
Prison officer training as a ‘liminal transition’
Comparative perspectives on prison officer training
Roles and values of a prison officer (and credit where credit is due)
Prison officer culture
Positive aspects of being a prison officer
Making a difference and finding meaning in prison officer work
Positive approaches to prison officer work with prisoners: Five-minute intervention
Pride, generativity and job satisfaction through contributing to rehabilitative ideals
Friendships, social support and solidarity
Humour: Having a laugh at work
Institutional factors impacting upon the role of prison officers in England and Wales
Senior management approaches towards prison officers
Stress and trauma of the prison officer role
Factors contributing to decision-making to leave the prison service
Role exit from other professional careers
Role exit from the prison service
Conclusion – why does any of this matter?
Role exit from other professional careers
Conclusion
3. Methodology
Introduction
Aims of the study
Research design
Ethical approval for research
Sampling strategy/recruitment of participants
Ethical considerations for our participants
Semi-structured interviews
Data analysis
Key themes identified for our research
‘Insider’ positionality’ within our research
Emotional labour of researching ex-prison officers as ‘insiders’
Conclusion
4. Theoretical framework
Introduction
Properties of the role exit process
First doubts (doubt, burnout frustration within the role of prison officer) (stage one)
Seeking alternatives: (away from the prison service) (stage two)
The turning point (departure from the prison service) (stage three)
Creating the ex-role (new role/identity post-prison officer ‘returning to civvy street’) (stage four)
Summary of theoretical framework
Justification and limitations of applying Ebaugh’s (1988) model to our research
5. Positive aspects of working as a prison officer
Introduction
Initial motivations for joining the Prison Service
‘Jail craft’ – mastering the craft practices of prison officer role (occupational socialisation)
Job satisfaction: what prison officers love about their job
Pride at being a prison officer- both in and out of the job
Camaraderie between officers and officers/prisoners
Nostalgia of being a prison officer – “back in the day”
Working with prisoners
Transferable life skills accrued from the prison officer role
Conclusion
6. Doubt/Burnout/Frustration Within the Role of Prison Officer
Introduction
Physical capabilities – age, unrealistic demands of the job and health scares
Mental health of prison officers
Burnout: Demoralisation, desensitisation and boredom with the job
Demoralisation, and desensitisation
Boredom with the job
Frustration with new/experienced members of staff
Civilianisation of roles/redeployment
Bureaucracy – treatment from senior management
Austerity
COVID-19
Conclusion
7. ‘Searching for Alternatives’ Away from the Prison Service
Introduction
Natural age retirement: thinking about “what next” post-retirement
Medical inefficiency/medical retirement
Contemplating a complete change of career
Voluntary Early Departure Scheme (VEDS)
“Just had enough of the job”
Negotiated settlement
Betwixt and between – liminality of ‘job’ and next ‘career’
Conclusion
8. Departure from the Prison Service HMPPS
Introduction
Biding time until last shift
Mixed emotions at leaving and walking through the prison gates for the last time
Poor or non-existent exit interviews
Lack of formal acknowledgment for time spent in the prison service
Lack of follow-on support for prison officers leaving the service
Conclusion
9. New Role/Identity Post-Prison Officer: “Returning to Civvy Street”
Introduction
Increased physical and mental health and wellbeing
Increased family time
‘Normal’ working patterns
New ‘career’ – transferable skills recognised and applied in ‘civvy street’
Retention of prison officer social networks
Positive goals for the future
Triggers – environmental cues that retraumatise
PTSD and lasting mental health issues
Who you might meet ‘on road’
Struggles reintegrating back into ‘civvy street’
‘Amputation’ or ‘reconstruction’ of prison officer identity?
Conclusion to chapter
10. Conclusion and Recommendations
Key recommendations
Biography
Sarah Nixon is a Senior Lecturer in Criminology at the University of Winchester, UK. Her research interests include desistance and peer support programmes within prison and community settings, the impact of desistance education on the working practices of prison officers, and autoethnographic research around being a gay female prison officer and experiences with suicide/self-harm and trauma. Sarah previously worked as a prison officer for six years at a category ‘B’ adult male prison in England and is a member of the Prison Research Network and the Pracademic Network in conjunction with De Montfort University.
Darren Woodward is a Senior Lecturer in Criminology at Arden University, UK. His research explores desistance from crime, prisons and the experiences of people involved in criminal justice. Before entering teaching and academia, Darren spent 17 years as a prison officer, working at two large prisons in England in various capacities, including landing officer, offender supervisor, and offending behaviour facilitator. Darren is also a member of the Pracademic Network in conjunction with De Montford University.
"Nixon and Woodward combine professional experience with scholarly knowledge to produce this book which is written with insight, empathy and nuance. It is a great read for criminology students and scholars and for those who seek to understand the realities of working in prison better."
Francis Pakes, Professor of Crimonology, University of Portsmouth, UK
"Contributing to a growing body of work on prison staff, this book presents a unique opportunity to explore the lived realities of personal, professional and cultural transitions involved in leaving the prison service. Role Exit in Prison Officers: Returning to ‘Civvy Street’ delivers an opportunity to understand why prison officers are leaving the service, particularly focusing on voluntary termination, medical retirement and discharge. This is timely work in the wake of the recently seen ‘exodus’ of experienced operational prison staff who are, crucially, well-versed in ‘jailcraft’. Interrogating the liminal space between employment in the prison service and what lies next in the lives of those who leave, this publication deals with important issues of transition, burnout and identity reorientation. Much like the resettlement and reintegration into the community of those who have served prison sentences, the return to ‘civvy street’ for former prison officers comes with its own unique set of personal challenges which require attention in the penological field. This publication will be of interest to academic, practitioner and policy maker communities and should be embraced by all with an interest in the impact of carceral spaces on people who work within them."
Helen Nichols, Senior Lecturer in Crimonology, University of Hull, UK
