Hester Paanakker

organization, may or may not facilitate craftsmanship on the shop floor. It simply is a given that “all good things cannot be pursued at once” (Grindle, 2004, p. 525). Numerous studies reveal that front-line public professionals may sense a lack of their own involvement and significance, and how, at the implementation stage, they experience alienation from its guiding policies (Tummers, 2013). This may result in, or contribute to, decreased willingness to implement policies, to stress and low job satisfaction, and to coping strategies such as routinization behavior, emotional detachment from clients, rule breaking, or work-related cynicism and complaining (T. Evans, 2013; Lipsky, 2010; Tummers et al., 2015; Tummers & Den Dulk, 2013). Such issues suggest little room for street level ideals in practice, and even show the institutional context in the organization functioning to undermine craftsmanship. 3.7 Research methods and analysis 3.7.1 Research methods, object and respondent characteristics In order to empirically assess street level perceptions of craftsmanship and its institutional facilitation in the prison, this study employs a qualitative approach by means of two case studies among prison officers. To obtain “rich descriptions and explanations for processes in identifiable local contexts” (Miles & Huberman, 1994, p. 1), in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 32 respondents in two penal facilities in the Netherlands, in 2014 and 2015 ( N =18 and N =14 respectively). Both groups work within the same overarching penal policy programs and policies, share identical job descriptions, and attend to very similar target groups of adult male detainees. In addition, we employed participatory observation and, for two months, accompanied prison officers on their day, evening and weekend shifts. As well as giving a far better understanding of prison dynamics, factors and terminology, this allowed for the selection of a diversified and seemingly representative pool of respondents in terms of age, gender, length of service and attitude to the job (for instance, pessimistic or optimistic, repressive or emphatic): 25 male and 7 female prison officers, between 30 and 65 years old, and with a length of service ranging from 5 to more than 30 years (see table 3.1). Although men, and particularly middle-aged men, are overrepresented, this represents prison officer population in the Netherlands accurately, as well as the populations at both facilities. 74 Chapter 3