In practice, the work of prison officers varies greatly between prisons, countries and contexts. In some places, prison officers rarely enter prisoners’ areas, while in others they build positive relationships with prisoners and use their interpersonal skills, discretion and authority
to diffuse tensions without using force.
This Factsheet seeks to assist monitoring bodies to identify factors relating to working conditions of prison officers which impact negatively on the treatment of prisoners, and therefore represent a risk factor for torture and other ill-treatment. It adopts a broad understanding of ‘working conditions’ to encompass all factors that can affect the quality of the working life of prison officers.
1.
Definition and contexto
2.
What
are the main standards?
3.
Types and situations of risk
3.1 Factors related to the institution and its
culture
3.2 Factors related to recruitment, training
and initial placement
3.3 Conditions of service
3.4 Prison officer well-being
4. What can
monitoring bodies do?
Penal Reform International (PRI)
PRI (2015). Staff working conditions
Addressing risk factors to prevent torture and ill-treatment. Penal Reform International. factsheet-3-working-conditions-2nd-v5.pdf (penalreform.org)
