Hester Paanakker

CHAPTER 4 PERCEPTIONS OF THE FRONTLINE CRAFT: ASSESSING VALUE CONVERGENCE BETWEEN POLICY MAKERS, MANAGERS AND STREET-LEVEL PROFESSIONALS IN THE PRISON SECTOR Abstract From the unique perspective of perceptions of the frontline craft, this study examines value convergence between policy makers, managers and street-level professionals (N=55). Toxic stereotyping between staff levels, exacerbated by restrictive organizational conditions, are shown to overshadow positive value convergence from socialization processes. In this Dutch prison study, public officials are consistently biased to believe that management above them prioritizes targets (values that support the organization) over content (values that serve prison inmates). This explains how perceived role and value differences impact the actualization of shared values in public service delivery much more negatively than the actual differences. 4.1 Introduction A growing body of literature is taking what Beck Jørgensen and Rutgers (2015) call a “Public Values Perspective (PVP)”, outlining the public values that uniquely characterize the public sector. Taking a generalist view of the public official, many of these studies map the role and relevance of values in public governance on an aggregate level (Beck Jørgensen & Bozeman, 2007; Huberts & Van der Wal, 2014; Perry, De Graaf, Van der Wal, & Van Montfort, 2014; Wang & Wang, 2019). Values are commonly understood as “qualities that are appreciated for contributing to or constituting what is good, right, beautiful, or worthy of praise and admiration” (De Graaf, 2003, p. 22), with public values referring to desired and praiseworthy public-sector conduct, processes and outcomes (Beck Jørgensen & Bozeman, 2007). Fewer studies address how such rather general and abstract values apply to professional ideals and practices of good work at implementation level, and how, within specific domains of public service delivery, such values are similarly or differently perceived and expressed from policy level down to shop floor (Paanakker, 2019, 2020). 93