Attitudinal exceptionalism? Norwegian prison officer students’ views towards prisoners and punishment

We examined whether Norwegian prison officer students’ educational motives, attitudes towards prisoners and views on punishment aligned with the official penal policy in Norway, which emphasises rehabilitation and humane treatment of prisoners. Moreover, we investigated whether students with prison work experience differed from other students in this regard. The target sample comprised all freshmen students in Norway in 2022 and 2023. Data were collected through electronic questionnaires, (response rate: 86%, n = 300). Nearly all the students expressed a wish to help others, which was by far the most frequently reported educational motive. Only a tiny fraction had a desire to exert authority. Positive, tolerant and lenient attitudes towards prisoners were highly predominant, yet a sizable minority acknowledged that interacting with prisoners presents safety risks and other challenges. Rehabilitation of offenders was regarded as an important purpose of punishment by virtually all students. Very few held the same view on deterrence. Punitive attitudes were also present, and a small minority was in favour of the death penalty. However, such attitudes, as well as having a desire to exert authority, were nearly always accompanied by tolerant and empathetic views of prisoners and support for rehabilitation. The attitudes of students with prison work experience and those without showed little variation, but there were indications that the former group was less likely to support punitive views. They also seemed to hold more nuanced attitudes towards prisoners. In conclusion, an overwhelming majority of the students held attitudes that aligned with the humane values underpinning the official penal and prison policy in Norway.