This session explores how organizational structure, training, and institutional culture shape the identity of prison staff in Chile and influence their attitudes toward social reintegration. Drawing on a survey of over 1,300 prison officers and interviews with staff and training academy professionals, the research highlights how a militarized institutional doctrine prioritizes security over rehabilitation, deeply influencing staff roles and workplace dynamics.
The findings reveal a strong culture of discipline and obedience that, while fostering loyalty, also generates tensions between tradition and the need for reform. This culture, along with working conditions and identity formation processes, has serious implications for staff mental health—issues often stigmatized and treated as incompatible with institutional values.
The study proposes a set of organizational recommendations aimed at improving working conditions, training, and institutional culture. Central to these is the need to support prison staff mental health through structural changes that promote a healthier, more inclusive, and reform-oriented work environment.
Moderated by Doug Dretke, Deputy Chair, Staff Training and Development Network, ICPA, United States
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Pablo Carvacho
Director of Research and Development, Justice and Society Center, Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, Chile
Pablo is a lawyer from the University of Chile, holds a Master’s degree in Sociology from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, a Master of the Science of Law from Stanford University, and is currently a PhD candidate in Law at the University of Edinburgh. He has extensive experience in security, justice, and drug policy.
He currently serves as the Director of Research and Development at the Center for Justice and Society, and is a professor at the Institute of Sociology at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. He is an international consultant for various organizations, including the IDB, OAS, UNICEF, and IDLO.