Incentives and Earned Privileges Revisited: Fairness, Discretion, and the Quality of Prison Life

Abstract

An evaluation of the policy of incentives and earned privileges (IEP) in prisons in England and Wales found mainly negative effects on prisoner behaviour and perceptions of fairness and relationships with staff. Some of these negative findings were due to the newly punitive climate in which the policy was introduced and the subsequent ethic underlying new discretionary practices. The evaluation illustrated the significance of prison staff discretion, relationships with prisoners, and fairness, to evaluations of prison life. A key finding of the research was that prison officers deploy their authority through relationships with prisoners. They use the rules when relationships do not work, and this is one of the reasons for the centrality of staff prisoner relationships to prison life. IEP is an important component of contemporary prison regimes but needs to be administered fairly, individually, and constructively. The author concludes that policies shape prison life, often in their impact on sensibilities rather than in intended ways. Certain types of political policy action pose huge risks to prison quality and stability, in ways that Ministers may not realize. Responsible policy‐making is critical in relation to the use of prison and the tone of prison life.