ABSTRACT
What is the role of the modern prison officer? Arguably the primary role of a prison officer is the maintenance of safe custody (Thomas 1972). But there is clearly more to the officer’s role than this. A good place to start is with the official definition of the prison officer’s job – Figure 3.1 shows the information available on the Prison Service website for applicants interested in joining the Prison Service. This is a concise summary of the tasks facing a prison officer.
