Shifting Grounds

Abstract

The framework of the new penology will be applied to reveal how the contemporary objectives of incarceration have functioned to alter the role of Canadian provincial correctional officers (COs). Specifically, changing policy and legislation toward a more punitive agenda shape the daily operations of correctional facilities and how COs interact with those in their custody. Rehabilitative initiatives of any kind appear to be pushed aside, as the new or intensifying challenges associated with the growing prisoner populations and changing penal discourses are addressed. Semistructured face-to-face interviews were conducted with Canadian provincial COs and data from these interviews were analyzed to explicate the ways in which the new penology has reshaped COs’ employment in part due to their obligatory adherence to increasingly punitive managerial directives including an increased reliance on using disciplinary segregation. Findings suggest officer strain is impacted by their lack of agency and decision-making capabilities in light of these occupational changes. Our findings also evince that although COs work in a too often negative environment, many believe in the rehabilitative potential of incarceration and, further, oppose the use of segregation.