La motivazione al lavoro dei medici penitenziari: un'indagine presso gli istituti penitenziari della Regione Campania

This paper examines the motivation to work of the prison doctors. They have the awkward task to guarantee the promotion of well-being in prisons, that have often stood for the denial of health itself, as well as of human dignity. Adopting the «Public Service Motivation» theoretical framework, the paper exhibits an explorative research realized in the community of penitentiary health managers operating in a southern Italian Region, Campania. The study is aimed at proving the existence of a motivational foundation, that fosters the mission of health protection and promotion bestowed to the prison doctors. The national reform, that envisages the conveyance of the responsibilities in regards to the provision of care in prisons from the Prison Department of the Ministry of Justice to the National Health Service, is the background of the research.