They spend their day behind the high walls and secured doors of Her Majesty's establishments in a role often ignored outside of bad press or comedy stereotype.
So who becomes one of the prison service's "screws" and why?
It is stressful work in a stressful environment
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"If we've managed to get through without them hurting themselves or anyone else," is how Prison Officer Sonia Leonard sums up a good day at work at HMP Wormwood Scrubs.
"When a man's locked away, he has to ask for everything. He can't go out and do anything, get a toilet roll, help himself," she explains.
"There's 10 of you, and 250 men, on one wing. Every one has a need and it's important to make time if they say 'I need to talk'."
Self harm, suicide risk and assaults are some of the serious problems the 53-year-old faces at the west London prison.
She has worked there for five years, as a standard grade officer, earning up to £26,000 a year. The role is hard, with high sick leave rates because of its physical nature.
Cutting is the most common form of self-harm among inmates, although none of the 250 men on Sonia's wing are currently logged in its record book.
'Lowest point'
The Scrubs also has one of the highest suicide rates among UK prisons and it is "more and more of a problem", says fellow officer John Hancock, 55.
He believes pressure on fewer staff make it harder to prevent.
Sonia hit the rock bottom of a ten-year career in 2004 when a 29-year-old lifer killed himself.
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SUICIDES AT THE SCRUBS
2006 Jan-March: 1
2005: 3
2004: 3
2003: 1
Total 1996-present: 13
Source:
Howard League for Penal Reform
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He had at least five years left to serve and as his personnel officer, she had to testify at his inquest.
"That's the worst thing I've ever had to do, my lowest point in my career, to go to an inquest and talk about somebody I have done a lot of work with," she says.
"When someone kills themselves it's a shock, a terrible experience. You have to go on because it's your job. There's other prisoners to talk to and it affects them."
How to deal with prisoner suicides, and its depressive impact among dozens of other inmates, is one of the aspects for which officers undergo weeks of classroom training.
They cover control and restraint of prisoners, using the radio, security, how to tackle assault and fighting, their own fitness and dealing with inmates' diversity, before taking up a post behind prison gates.
Regimented day
The service had 48,140 staff in 128 UK prisons at June 2005, with another 11 prisons in the private sector. Of those staff, 24,394 were priso
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