The emotional life in prisons has been described in popular literature in terms of horror and suffering, but the research literature on this topic is sparse and mostly produced in later decades. During this short time, emotion research concerning prisons has focussed on a prison reality under constant change and development. The development of prisons, which is influenced by increased security, technical monitoring, and risk governance but also by centralization, specialization, and efficiency demands, has deeply affected prison work. Not the least of these concerns is the emotional labour performed by the largest group of staff, the prison officers. How this labour is performed in each prison wing or unit is closely connected to the institutional framework, the subculture, and the relationships between officers and prisoners. The aim of this chapter is to describe and discuss the emotional labour of prison staff under today’s prevailing conditions of prison life and ongoing changes to prison systems. This is done with reference to research findings from several countries as well as data from our own Swedish research projects. Research and data on prison officer work will be analysed in the light of prison policy changes and organisational theory on the development of public organisations and by using the work of Hochschild and other social theorists.