Self-Legitimacy of Prison Workers and Treatment of Correctional Clients: A Study in Slovenian Prisons

• Published date: 01 January 2024
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/00938548231206844
• Author: Rok Hacin,Gorazd Meško
• Date: 01 January 2024

CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND BEHAVIOR, 2024, Vol. 51, No. 1, January 2024, 86 –106.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/00938548231206844

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© 2023 International Association for Correctional and Forensic Psychology

86

SELF-LEGITIMACY OF PRISON WORKERS AND

TREATMENT OF CORRECTIONAL CLIENTS

A Study in Slovenian Prisons

ROK HACIN

GORAZD MEŠKO

University of Maribor

Studies on self-legitimacy in the prison environment have confirmed the differences in prison workers’ perceptions of their

own legitimacy in different cultural settings. This study focuses on factors influencing prison workers’ self-legitimacy and their

support of the specific treatment of correctional clients in Slovenian prisons. The results highlighted good relations with cor-

rectional clients, satisfaction with payment, internalization of subcultural norms, higher education, and positive perception of

workplace (professional) competencies as correlates of prison workers’ self-legitimacy. Prison workers’ support of the reso-

cialization of correctional clients was influenced by their feelings of obligation toward correctional clients, rejection of prison

subculture norms, and gender, female prison workers being more inclined toward resocialization. In contrast, lack of coopera-

tion between prison services, bad relations with correctional clients, and lower levels of achieved education were associated

with prison workers’ support of the harsh treatment of correctional clients. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Keywords: self-legitimacy; resocialization; prison workers; correctional clients; Slovenia

Costa (2016) highlighted the dialogical nature of legitimacy, where the external (in rela-

tion to the wider society) and internal (in relation to correctional clients)1 justification

of existing penal policies and practices must be ensured. In comparison with interactions

between police officers and citizens, on which the majority of studies on legitimacy focus

(e.g., Nix & Wolfe, 2017; Tankebe, 2019), the internal dialogical nature of legitimacy is

even more profound in prisons where relations and interactions between prison workers and

correctional clients are more frequent and intense. Within a prison, prison workers represent

AUTHORS’ NOTE: The authors state that the article is in compliance with ethical standards. The authors

have no competing interests to declare that are relevant to the content of this article. This article is based on

a research project—Research of prison workers’ professional competencies and relations in prisons (c2031-

22-090000)—that was financially supported by the Ministry of Justice, Slovenian Prison Administration.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Rok Hacin, Faculty of Criminal Justice and

Security, University of Maribor, Kotnikova ulica 8, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia; e-mail: rok.hacin@um.si.

1206844CJBXXX10.1177/00938548231206844Criminal Justice and BehaviorHacin and Meško / Self-Legitimacy of Prison Workers

research-article2023

Hacin and Meško / SELF-LEGITIMACY OF PRISON WORKERS 87

a mediating element for correctional clients that influences their “good/right or bad” behav-

ior, which is manifested in the observance of the prison rules (Bottoms, 1999). Simultaneously,

in interactions with correctional clients, prison workers confirm their status as legitimate

power-holder (Hacin & Meško, 2020). Akoensi (2016) pointed out that the legitimacy of

power-holders in the prison environment has been the subject of few studies, despite the

fact that the lack of legitimacy of authority can lead to inappropriate behavior of prison

workers and the inability to perform the assigned role according to their position or function

in the institution. The self-legitimacy of prison staff is the foundation of a successful dia-

logue between prison staff and correctional clients.

Bottoms and Tankebe (2021) argued that the importance of factors influencing legiti-

macy varies in different social contexts. Empirical research confirmed that legitimacy in the

prison context varies between (a) different cultural environments (Akoensi & Tankebe,

2020; Reisig & Meško, 2009), (b) different prison regimes (Brunton-Smith & McCarthy,

2016; Hacin, 2018), and (c) different time periods (Hacin et al., 2019). While differences in

perception of legitimacy and self-legitimacy in the prison context have been identified,

studies on the impact of self-legitimacy of prison workers on their work and treatment of

correctional clients remain rare (e.g., Akoensi & Tankebe, 2020; Hacin & Meško, 2020).

This study advances the literature on legitimacy in the following ways. First, a quantita-

tive analysis of the correlates of prison workers’ legitimacy in a Slovenian (former socialist)

prison context is conducted, which provides a test for generalization of the concepts of self-

legitimacy, and its correlates in a different cultural setting (Nelken, 2009). Second, as previ-

ous research on self-legitimacy in Slovenian prisons exposed certain deviations (Hacin &

Meško, 2020) from the existing theoretical framework of correlates of self-legitimacy

(Bottoms & Tankebe, 2012, 2013), new variables (possible correlates) were introduced.

Finally, building upon Akoensi and Tankebe’s (2020) study in Ghana, the impact of self-

legitimacy of prison workers on their support for the resocialization of correctional clients

and harsh treatment was tested in a treatment-oriented Slovenian prison system. The article

proceeds as follows. First, a theoretical framework of self-legitimacy and its correlates in

the prison context is provided. A short description of the Slovenian prison system follows.

In the second part of the article, methods for testing theoretical assumptions are delineated,

and the results of statistical analyses are presented. Finally, the findings and their implica-

tions are discussed.

THE CONCEPT OF SELF-LEGITIMACY IN THE PRISON CONTEXT

Woolf (1991) argued that prisons must seek their legitimacy with correctional clients.

Accepting prison workers as legitimate power-holders by correctional clients requires

appropriate relations based on fairness and trust (the level of trust can vary significantly,

influencing instrumental and normative compliance of correctional clients; Hacin & Meško,

2020). Ryan and Bergin (2021) pointed out that consistent, fair, and respectful treatment of

correctional clients has a positive effect on their perception of prison workers and the prison

regime as legitimate. All relations are based on dialogues, and the self-legitimacy of prison

workers presents the foundation of dialogues between them and correctional clients. Self-

legitimacy can be defined as the confidence of power-holders in the legitimacy of their own

authority and/or position (Bottoms & Tankebe, 2013). As legitimacy in its nature is unsta-

ble, self-legitimacy is a constant process of building, confirming, and resisting a certain