Fearful Custodial or Fearless Personal Relations: Prison Guards' Fear as a Factor Shaping Staff-Inmate Relation Prototype

A previous article described five relationship prototypes, ranging from punitive to integrative, that exist between prison staff and inmates. The present study describes the relationship between these prototypes and anxiety that results from personal, professional, and job insecurity. The greater this anxiety and insecurity, the more likely a staff member is to be punitively oriented. In recent years, there has been a revival of the rehabilitation orientation in the criminal justice system. The results suggest that unless measures are taken to reduce anxiety and insecurity among prison staff, they will be unable to tolerate the close staff-inmate relations necessary in a rehabilitation-oriented institution.