How can correctional professionals across Europe be better prepared to support rehabilitation, reintegration and more person-centred correctional practices?
The Erasmus+ RESiZE – Reshaping Correctional Competences through RESCALed Innovation project has taken an important step towards answering this question with the development of the European Vocational Core Profiles for the Correctional Workforce, a new resource designed to support professional development, training and cooperation across European correctional systems.
10 Professional Profiles for a Changing Correctional Sector
Correctional work today goes far beyond maintaining safety and security. Professionals working in prisons, detention houses and other correctional facilities increasingly contribute to rehabilitation, education, wellbeing and successful reintegration into society.
Recognising these responsibilities, the RESiZE project partners have developed 10 European Vocational Core Profiles covering key professional functions:
- Custodial Officer / Security Practitioner
- Case Worker
- Facility Leader / Director
- Residential Support and Key Worker
- Psychosocial Support Worker
- Healthcare Practitioner
- Education and Skills Development Worker
- Peer or Volunteer Support Worker
- Specialist Support Worker
- Administrative and Operational Support Staff
Each profile describes the main responsibilities, professional tasks and essential competences associated with the role. The profiles also examine how professionals cooperate with other services, how their responsibilities differ across correctional settings and which skills will be increasingly important in the future.
Building on Research and Professional Experience
The profiles were developed through a collaborative process combining research, correctional ecosystem mapping, national DACUM workshops and international expert consultations.
Building on two earlier RESiZE outputs — the European Blueprint of the Correctional Ecosystem and the European Framework of Competences for the Correctional Workforce — the new resource translates identified competence needs into practical professional profiles.
Rather than defining fixed job descriptions, the profiles provide a shared European reference that can be adapted to different national correctional systems and institutional arrangements.
Supporting Training and Professional Development
The European Vocational Core Profiles are intended to help correctional institutions, education and training providers, policymakers and other stakeholders:
- Identify essential competences and professional development needs.
- Improve training programmes and learning pathways.
- Support the development of future qualifications.
- Strengthen cooperation between correctional professionals and community services.
- Promote human rights-based, rehabilitation-oriented correctional practices.
The report also presents practical examples from Switzerland, Belgium and the Netherlands, demonstrating how different professional roles operate in correctional facilities and community-connected detention settings.
Towards a More Skilled and Connected Correctional Workforce
By establishing a shared understanding of professional roles and competence requirements, the RESiZE project contributes to strengthening correctional workforce development across Europe.
The profiles also provide an important foundation for the project’s next activities, particularly those focused on qualifications, education and training.
Discover the European Vocational Core Profiles for the Correctional Workforce and learn how RESiZE is supporting the future of correctional education and professional practice.
Read the full report: European Vocational Core Profiles for the Correctional Workforce (Deliverable 2.3)
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA).
