In the period from 1900 through the 1950's, the paramilitary model of prison officer work was dominant. Under this model, officers acted as enforcers of prison rules, and they were expected to have minimal interaction and communication with inmates. In the military tradition, officers were not females. From the 1950's through the 1970's, penal philosophy changed to an emphasis on rehabilitation of inmates. As a consequence, prison officers began interacting with inmates as the inmates were supervised in various prison activities and services for inmates. There is little evidence, however, that the understanding of the work of female prison officers in South Australia was changing in the same pattern as that of their male counterparts during the 1950's and 1960's. By the mid-1970's this began to change, as the notion that men and women could be involved in similar work began to prevail. In South Australia this was first evidenced by the inclusion of male and female officers in the same training program. Then came the decision to have male and female officers work together. The women's prison became the first site of experiments in having male and female officers work together. The human services model of prison officer work emerged in the 1980's and continues into the year 2000. The unit management concept for prisons became dominant, and the role of the prison officer is to become involved with the inmate population in combining the officer's security role with a human relations role. Currently, the prison officer is viewed as a case manager, as therapeutic agent, and as a professional molded through training and experience by a body of knowledge and skills. There is little data available about the consequences of the increasing numbers of women becoming involved in prison officers' work. Many jurisdictions have chosen to limit the number of women employed within men's prisons. 40 references