In their article “Post-Soviet Prisons in Lithuania: Examining Prison Officers’ Perspectives in the Context of Ongoing Reforms,” published in the journal “Zeitschrift für Rechtssoziologie,” researchers at the Law Institute of the Lithuanian Centre for Social Sciences – Dr. Artūras Tereškinas, Dr. Rūta Vaičiūnienė, Dr. Simonas Nikartas, and Dr. Liubovė Jarutienė – examine the daily roles, responsibilities, and perceptions of prison officers in three Lithuanian prisons. The findings reveal a duality in officers’ roles, as they are required to navigate between rigid bureaucratic structures inherited from the Soviet era and modern aspirations to develop a humane and rehabilitative correctional system. This duality stems from the fact that Lithuanian prisons remain institutions shaped by Soviet-era historical legacy – marked by outdated infrastructure and entrenched criminal subculture – while simultaneously undergoing reforms aimed at aligning with European standards.

The analysis of empirical data, collected through 33 semi-structured interviews and four focus group discussions, demonstrates that officers working in Resocialisation Units primarily perceive themselves as caregivers, focusing on emotional support, conflict resolution, and attending to the individual needs of inmates. One of the main obstacles to effective work in these units is bureaucratic overload, which has paradoxically increased as a result of recent reforms. In contrast, Security Management Units have retained practices deeply rooted in Soviet-era disciplinary frameworks characterised by hierarchical obedience and rigid formality. This dichotomy fosters interpersonal tensions between different groups of staff and undermines the collaboration necessary for successful institutional reform. Officers’ practices and responses to reform initiatives are also shaped by differing perceptions of prison subculture: while some perceive it as a functional tool for maintaining order, others explicitly identify it as a Soviet legacy that encodes tension and mistrust.

According to the authors, achieving meaningful change in Lithuanian prisons requires systemic interventions that reduce excessive bureaucratic burdens, improve officers’ professional training, and bridge the divide between staff working in security-oriented and resocialisation-focused units.

The open-access article can be accessed here.

This article was written using data from the project “Changes in prison officers’ professional roles within the shifting custodial sentencing policy and practice” (PRISTA), implemented by the Law Institute of the Lithuanian Centre for Social Sciences (LSMC) and funded by the Research Council of Lithuania. The project results are available at: https://teise.org/projektai/prista/.