Samenvatting

The job of prison officer is recognised as highly demanding, given that prisons are dynamic environments that place a burden on the mental and physical resources of staff. The article explores what prison officers consider the most rewarding and most stressful aspects of their job, and how they cope with job stress. The authors conducted seven semi-structured interviews with prison officers in a large Dutch prison to complement and illustrate findings from the literature. Prison officers especially enjoy human interaction in their job: working with their colleagues and with the prisoners. Poor communication about management and policy decisions, too much paperwork, and (violent) incidents caused frustration and stress among employees. Talking about problems with colleagues, family and friends alleviated some of the stress.