Hester Paanakker

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION “ It is not about numbers, no, it is about persons. How do we interact with the crooks? The foundation of the prison is still the crook, and we are shifting away from that somewhat: it is becoming a side-issue, so it seems .” (Quote from prison officer 4) 1.1 Introducing the Topic: Values, Craft, and Convergence The lawyer does his job well when he wins cases for his clients. The telemarketer when he sells the company’s products. The research & development department of a pharmaceutical concern if they expand into new markets. The plumber when the leakage is fixed. And the heart surgeon when the patient’s by-pass succeeds. One may argue this covers values such as persuasive power, profitability, innovativeness, technical expertise, and diligence. But when does a public official working in public service delivery deliver good work? In the academic field of public administration, scholarly work on public values tends to focus on values as the abstract and generic key principles of good governance, rather than on what characterizes the application of skills, knowledge, and practices that define the public craft. This concerns a different object of value analysis, and supplements academic work that measures values with respect to different areas: organizational principles or person – organization “fit” (Kristof, 1996; Moyson, Raaphorst, Groeneveld, & Van de Walle, 2018; Paarlberg & Perry, 2007), public service motivation (Bozeman & Su, 2015; Perry, Hondeghem, & Wise, 2010; Steen & Rutgers, 2011; Wright, 2007), modes of governance (L. B. Andersen, Jørgensen, Kjeldsen, Pedersen, & Vrangbæk, 2012; Nabatchi, 2018; Reynaers, 2014b), public participation and policy conflict (Nabatchi, 2012), or value conflict in public governance (De Graaf, Huberts, & Smulders, 2016; De Graaf & Paanakker, 2015; Jaspers & Steen, 2019; Oldenhof, Postma, & Putters, 2014; D. Thacher & M. Rein, 2004), to give only a few examples. Hence, this thesis focuses specifically on the role of values and value convergence in the context of the craft practiced at the frontline, in the specific context of the Dutch prison sector. Is there a shared perception and common consideration of these values? And does it matter if there is, or is not? These are the central questions of this thesis. 15