Perception of Security as One of the Central Dimensions of Prison Life Quality in the Correctional Institution for Women in Požarevac

The main purpose of this paper was to highlight the importance of security as a dimension of the social climate for women who are deprived of their liberty and held in prisons, recognising the power dynamics between prison staff and women prisoners as a cornerstone of effective and humane execution of the prison sentence. Given the unique context of the execution of the prison sentence for women prisoners in Serbia, this paper presents the findings from research on the dimension of security conducted at the only prison in which women in Serbia serve the sentence of deprivation of liberty, the Correctional Institution for Women in Požarevac, in 2022. The sample consisted of 91 respondents from both the closed and semi-open sections of the facility. The research is part of a three-year project titled Assessment and possibilities for improving the quality of prison life of prisoners in the Republic of Serbia: Criminologicalpenological, psychological, sociological, legal and security aspects – the PrisonLIFE project, supported by the Science Fund under the Ideas 2020 programme, implemented by the Institute of Criminological and Sociological Research and the University of Belgrade – Faculty of Special Education and Rehabilitation.