Hester Paanakker

When looking at mutual perceptions, in general, managers are not judged favorably, specifically not on their value prioritization and enactment. Regardless of the hierarchical layer they occupy, prison employees are consistently biased to believe that management above them prioritizes targets over content. This image of task effectiveness in the interpretation of “getting the numbers right” is seen to create a mentality of box ticking and number obsession, and is further intensified when moving up the hierarchy. Through the way they manage their personnel in practice, with a perceived overemphasis on trivial check lists, quantifiable targets, and other performance indicators that barely scratch the surface of good work, managers create the impression that they care much less about humanity, security and reintegration. Positioned at the top of the hierarchy, the most negative stereotyping is directed against policy advisors at headquarters. According to the other levels, policy makers have an understanding of frontline craft that focuses mainly on a negative form of task effectiveness (according to 78% of respondents), and to a lesser extent efficiency (16%), at the expense of their focus on reintegration (16%), security (16%) and humanity (only 6%). Specifically, 59% of respondents feel policy advisors impose an interpretation of task effectiveness as box ticking and number obsession, and 33% feels it is headquarters’ primary focus to “prevent reputational damage” by averting negative media attention, with no consideration of the quality of the tasks or services involved: Reintegration 8% (4) Reintegration 17% (4) *This table displays 165 cross-perceptions from a total of 55 respondents. In line with the distribution of respondents over the respective groups, N differs slightly per group. 49 respondent views on policy advisors (PA) = MD( N =8) + MM( N =9) + PO( N =32) 47 respondent views on managing directors (MD) = PA( N =6) + MM( N =9) + PO( N =32) 46 respondent views on middle managers (MM) = PA( N =6) + MD( N =8) + PO ( N =32) 23 respondent views on prison officers (PO) = PA( N =6) + MD( N =8) + MM( N =9) Per group, the table displays the percentages and number of respondents of the group judging (sub) variations of this value (in terms of the skills, knowledge and practices that relate to it) to represent other levels’ key focus on street-level craftsmanship 111 Comparing Perceptions of the Frontline Craft