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Appreciative Inquiry and Relationships in Prison

NCJ Number
181096
Journal
Punishment & Society Volume: 1 Issue: 1 Dated: July 1999 Pages: 71-98
Author(s)
Alison Liebling; David Price; Charles Elliott
Date Published
1999
Length
28 pages
Annotation
This article examines staff-prisoner relationships.
Abstract
Staff-prisoner relationships are at the heart of the prison system and a stable prison life depends to a large extent on getting those relationships right, particularly in long-term maximum-security establishments in the UK. Understanding staff-prisoner interactions requires a detailed and firmly grounded appreciation of the broader tasks prison officers carry out and the nature of prison officer work. Staff-prisoner relationships are invested with an unusual amount of power, which is “held in reserve” most of the time. This study employed an innovative “appreciative” methodology which sought to allow staff to focus on the best aspects of their work and role and the conditions in which they functioned especially well. Two important features of their work-—the peacekeeping aspects and the use of discretion-—must be considered in any attempt to describe how staff-prisoner relationships are accomplished. Tables, note, references