Self-legitimacy refers to the authority’s belief in the ability to exercise entrusted power in accordance with the moral values of society. In the prison environment, prison workers’ positive perception of self-legitimacy is crucial for the effective implementation of demanding tasks of treatment of prisoners. In the study, we focus on comparing the perceptions of self-legitimacy of prison officers and treatment workers in Slovenian prisons in two time periods. Representative samples of prison workers were obtained from all Slovenian prisons and a correctional in 2016 and 2022. The purpose of the study is to highlight variables associated with the self-legitimacy of prison officers and treatment workers, define the differences and similarities in the perception of self-legitimacy between the groups, and verify the (un)stable nature of legitimacy over a longer period of time. The results of the statistical analyses (descriptive statistics, factor analysis, correlation analysis, and regression analyses) showed that there are minor differences in the variables that correlate with the self-legitimacy of prison officers and treatment workers. In both groups, relations with prisoners and the subculture of prison staff correlated with self-legitimacy. Relationships with colleagues also correlated with prison officers’ perception of self-legitimacy, while the level of achieved education correlated with the self-legitimacy of treatment workers. In both groups, the perception of one’s own legitimacy was influenced by the time component, which was reflected in the changing factors influencing self-legitimacy in different time periods.
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