Hester Paanakker

mission of “providing a safe and humane detention in which, together with chain partners and detainees, we work towards reintegration back into society” (Dutch Correctional Agency, 2009c, p. 10). This mission reflects the sector’s core values of humanity, security, and reintegration: a set of three intrinsic and inherently conflicting values of detention that exemplify a precarious balance and represent the core objective of detention in many Western contexts, including the Netherlands (Craig, 2004; DiIulio, 1987; Liebling & Arnold, 2004; Paanakker, 2020). Interviewees were selected from four different staff levels ( N =55): 32 prison officers, nine middle managers (heading one or two detainee units and their staff), eight managing directors (heading the facility, including deputy directors) and, finally, six policy advisors working at “headquarters,” the Ministry of Justice and Security. Together, the number of middle managers and managing directors interviewed represents the full higher management team of each respective facility, and a large part of their lower management team. One third of respondents were female and two-thirds male, with an age range of 30-65 years, an average age of 44, and an average of 19 years of prison service. Years of service ranged from less than five years (some prison officers, and most of the policy advisors) to more than 30 years (for many prison officers and middle managers this accounted for their entire employable lives). The overrepresentation of men, and particularly middle-aged men, represents Dutch prison staff population accurately, as well as the populations in both facilities. Interview questions were posed to respondents from all levels in the same way. To avoid any bias toward certain types of values or value interpretations, we did not ask for specific values, but aimed to describe value(pattern)s as mentioned and expressed by respondents themselves. The first set of questions included questions on whether respondents perceive value divergence. In line with our definition, we queried divergence on three dimensions: value identification, value understanding, and value prioritization or enactment in practice. Respondents were shown a pyramid depicting the four different penal levels under consideration and then asked to reflect on the values that different staff levels deem important and how they might enact such values. This included such questions as: In your opinion, to what extent does the penal sector have a shared vision on the values the sector stands for? Between which staff levels do you perceive views to clash the most, and how does this show? Between which staff levels do you perceive views to be the most aligned, and how does this show? To what extent do you feel different 139 The Effect of Value Divergence