This edited collection brings together academics, lawyers, civil servants, and researchers working in the human rights NGO sector, to explore the work and role of prison officers around the world. Each chapter offers a distinctive perspective on the work of prison officers within localised socio-economic and criminal justice contexts, to provide a unique overview and insight into the realities and complexities of the role through accessible scholarly interpretations of their work. The aim of the book is to advance knowledge and understanding of the crucial role that prison officers occupy within carceral systems. The collection has widespread applicability with relevance beyond academia into criminal justice practice and policy internationally.Chapter 3 is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

1. Introduction.- PART I: Prison Officer Interpretations and Performances of Power and Authority.- 2. The moral value of authority: Reflections on the work of prison officers.- 3. Ukrainian prison officers and their power.- 4. French prison officers’ legal socialization: ‘The law, yes; prisoners’ rights, no’.- 5. Proxy governance in (post) colonial prisons: When prison officers delegate power to prisoners.- PART II: Prison Officer Identities and Workplace Cultures.- 6. Dirty work and beyond: Representations of Prison Officers in Prison Films.- 7. “It’s a very clannish type of job”: Entitativity and identity in prison officers’ occupational cultures and identities.- 8. ‘Friendly but not friends’ or ‘Never trust the bastards’? Staff-prisoner interaction styles in Australia and Norway. 9. “It is important to be a prison officer and have trade union back up”: Exploring trade union membership within the Scottish Prison Service.- 10. The prison officer in post-soviet Russia.- PART III: Implications of Prison Policy and Management for the Role of Prison Officers.- 11. “Prison officers should be treated fairly”: Perceptions and experiences of fairness among prison officers in Ghana.- 12. Do risk-reducing measures only reduce risk? Prison officer work with risk-reducing measures in the imprisonment of a high-risk prisoner.- 13. Farewell to exceptionalism: An analysis of Swedish prisons officers’ attitudes towards prison policy, organisation, and their occupational role in 2009 and 2019.- 14. The role of prison officers in transforming prisoners’ lives in Hong Kong.- 15. Locating Prison Officers in the prison reforms discourse: Insights from India.- PART IV: Working Conditions and Prison Officer Well-Being.- 16. The well-being of correctional officers in Canada.- 17. Fear and perceived risk among correctional officers.- 18. Prison Officers and their Work Routine in Brazilian Prisons.- 19. Conclusion: Towards a new research agenda to analyse the contemporary prison officer role.