Role Exit in Prison Officers

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.