The Comparative Study of Prison Officers’ Self-Legitimacy and the Use of Force: Slovenian Experience in Different Periods

Abstract In the past, scant attention has been devoted to the nature of relation between self-legitimacy and the use of force in the prison context. The current study focuses on a comparative examination of prison officers’ self-legitimacy and willingness to use force in two time periods. The data were drawn from national samples of prison officers in Slovenia collected in 2016 and 2022. The manova and regression models showed differences in self-legitimacy and its correlates in different periods, supporting the thesis on the unstable nature of legitimacy. Similarly, differences in correlates were identified in testing prison officers’ use of force in different periods. Self-legitimacy had a modest positive influence on the use of force only in one period. Overall, the findings highlight the importance of social context on prison officers’ self-legitimacy and use of force, as well as the complex nature of legitimacy and coercion in prison.