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ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER
Does Vocational Training Change the Values of Prison Inmates? A Longitudinal Study of Vocational Values and Work Ethic
by
Elke Brewster 1 
1 School of Education JKU Linz, Linz, Austria
ABSTRACT
This study examines change in work-related values among incarcerated apprentices in the Austrian prison system. Despite the central role of vocational education for resocialization, systematic longitudinal evidence is lacking. A three-level theoretical framework integrates macro-sociological value stability, institutional context factors including training climate, Turning Point theory, and the Good Lives Model, and individual action cycles. In a prospective panel design, N = 39 male inmates across six Austrian facilities were surveyed at two waves over 24 months (2023 to 2025). No significant changes in vocational values or work ethic were found, and both hypotheses are rejected. A latent profile analysis (LPA) identified three trajectory types, with 35.9 % showing value improvements (Type 1), 46.2 % remaining stable (Type 2), and 17.9 % exhibiting deterioration (Type 3). This pattern appears consistent with the action cycle model, though causal interpretation remains tentative. By revealing three distinct trajectory types behind aggregate stability, the study contributes a trajectory-sensitive perspective to the sociology of values and offers correctional practice an evidence-based caution, namely that group-level evaluations systematically overlook the roughly one in five participants whose vocational values deteriorate during training.
Keywords: Vocational Education, Resocialization, Work Ethic, Vocational Values, Action Cycles, Interindividual Variability
HOW TO CITE THIS ARTICLE
Brewster E. (2026). Does Vocational Training Change the Values of Prison Inmates? A Longitudinal Study of Vocational Values and Work Ethic, MAP Education and Humanities, 7, 32-46. doi: https://doi.org/10.53880/2744-2373.2026.7.32