Journal of Security and Sustainability Issues

The article presents the current patterns in education of Prison Service officers on the example of one of the largest penitentiary units in Poland, i.e. the Penitentiary Facility in Włocławek. The tendencies and changes in provision by qualified staff in penitentiary system as a prerequisite of societal safety were defined due to analysis of data about education of officers of the Prison Service and penitentiary department in the years 1999–2019. In order to investigate the role of rehabilitation staff in the penitentiary system, it is important to assess the current distribution and structural changes in penitentiary staff which, in turn, can be crucial for achieving the objectives of the execution of the imprisonment penalty. To achieve and maintain societal safety, particularly security in penitentiary system it is important to consider changes in the capacity of the prisons. In this regard main positive trends are: increase of number and share of staff with special tertiary education affects the quality of the social rehabilitation work at the penitentiary facility; gender distribution of Prison Service staff tends to reflect distribution on prisoners; professional qualification of officers grows steadily. The main challenge for current penitentiary system in order to increase its educational impact on prisoners is hiring process which should be directed on attracting graduates of rehabilitation pedagogy and penitentiary pedagogy to work in the penitentiary department.