New study: Legitimacy and self-legitimacy in prisons in Slovenia, 2016

Authors of Research: Meško Gorazd and Hacin Rok

Year of Research: 2016

Keywords: legitimacy, prison, prison worker, prisoner, distributive justice, pro-organizational behaviour, prison subculture, prisoners, prison sentences, rights of prisoners, prison system, employees,

The study represents the first comprehensive study on legitimacy in the prison environment, based on a nationally representative sample of prison workers and prisoners in Slovenia. The findings of the study, in addition to a new theoretical approach to the study of legitimacy in the prison environment, in the form of a model of the dual nature of legitimacy, that derives from the quality of prison workers–prisoners relations and focuses attention on the self–legitimacy of the prison workers and its connection to prisoners’ perception of legitimacy of the prison workers,  significantly complement the existing knowledge on researching legitimacy in prisons. The study was carried out in all Slovenian correctional facilities: Celje, Dob, Ig, Koper, Ljubljana and Maribor, with the associated departments (Ig, Murska Sobota, Nova Gorica, Novo mesto, Puščava, Rogoza, Slovenska vas) and in a correctional home (Radeče). In ADP, only the quantitative survey part of the study is available, whereby the prison workers data file contains n=243 units, and prisoners n=328. PUF and ScUF (on request) versions of the file are available to users, both for prison workers and prisoners. Additionally, an excel file with the open answer of both groups of respondents is available on request (SUF). Structured interviews with prisoners, prison workers and prison management, which were carried out in the qualitative part, are accessible in the form of results in a doctoral thesis among related publications.

Research was based on work within the TRP "Legitimacy and legality of policing, criminal justice and execution of penal sanctions » and upgraded within the work of young researcher Rok Hacin under the mentorship of Prof. PhD. Gorazd Meško from the Faculty of Criminal Justice and Security, University of Maribor, with joint research work.

Cite the data:

Meško, G. and Hacin, R. (2024). Legitimacy and self-legitimacy in prisons in Slovenia, 2016 [Data file]. Ljubljana: Univerza v Ljubljani = University of Ljubljana, Arhiv družboslovnih podatkov = Slovenian Social Science Data Archives. ADP - IDNo: LEGIT16. https://doi.org/10.17898/ADP_LEGIT16_V1

Based on the research data, several publications were created, for example:

HACIN, Rok, 2018, Comparison of self-legitimacy of the prison staff and prisoner’s perceptions of prison staff legitimacy: doctoral dissertation [na spletu]. Doktorska disertacija. Ljubljana: R. Hacin.

https://dk.um.si/IzpisGradiva.php?id=68894&lang=slv

Meško, G., & Hacin, R. (2019). Social Distance Between Prisoners and Prison Staff. The Prison Journal, 99(6), 706-724.