This contribution looks at the emotional labour of prison professionals in the wake of an increasing number of older adults populating this institution. The rationale behind this selective focus is twofold. Firstly, the topic of ageing behind bars has only received scant attention, even though this phenomenon is also increasingly penetrating prison walls. Secondly, little attention has been paid to the performance of emotional labour by practitioners in prison systems working with the specific population of ageing prisoners. Against this background, this contribution reflects on the ambivalent emotional nature of the work of not only the ‘professionals of custody’ but also of the ‘professionals of care’ in a prison setting. This topic will be examined by drawing on cross-disciplinary insights stemming from a wider range of literature and is underpinned by new data originating from an empirical ethnographic study into the meaning of imprisonment in later life in Belgium.

随着越来越多的老年人涌入监狱，这一贡献着眼于监狱专业人员的情感劳动。这种选择性关注背后的理由是双重的。首先，尽管这种现象也越来越多地渗透到监狱的围墙中，但牢笼中的老化问题却很少受到关注。其次，在监狱系统中，针对特定年龄段囚犯的从业人员很少关注情绪劳动的表现。在这种背景下，这种贡献反映出监狱中不仅“监护专业人员”而且“护理专业人员”的工作具有矛盾的情感性质。