Hester Paanakker

The second most frequently mentioned institutional restriction on street level practice is a major focus on efficiency in the current prison vision. Over two-thirds of respondents consider some sort of negative efficiency measure to be the key focus in the current penal climate. Prison officers explain how they feel the system is predominantly aimed at cutbacks (mentioned by 24 respondents), including severe personnel cuts (mentioned by 7), or the moving around of personnel over different departments and facilities (mentioned by another 7). Moreover, 14 of them insist it is undoubtedly the number one focus. Respondents were very clear in their condemnation of what are, in their view, excessive cutbacks: “ Everything’s got to be cheaper and shorter and quicker with less personnel. As little expenses as possible. It is a blow of demotivation. ” (respondent 13) Finally, the meaning of task effectiveness is completely altered: as an ideal value of craftsmanship it referred to getting tasks done in a structured and well-paced environment, but in the context of institutional facilitation respondents perceive only a negative form of task effectiveness. They explain how a rigid performance measurement system shifts the focus to “box ticking only”: targets have to be achieved for their own sake, with the content and quality of the action required to meet the target mattering less. One third of respondents stress that they see their managers as suffering from goal displacement rhetoric and number obsession, demanding unrealistically high numerical targets, for cell inspections or the frequency of mentor conversations and the number of topics addressed during those talks, for example. Prison officers say they feel forced into producing false and meaningless reports: “ It is a purely quantitative measurement, it has nothing to do with quality. […] What we are pushed towards by our managers is primarily that we achieve the number, because that is what they are judged on, and then I think: well, that is of no use at all. I’d rather have one good cell inspection than 20 phonies. ” (respondent 30) “ They only check: is there a report [on how the detainee is doing]? Yes, on to the next detainee. So they are only ticking boxes. […] Not that there’s anything in there, but they count as being drafted, all blank documents. That is our reality.” (respondent 14) 84 Chapter 3