<![CDATA[Debt disputes among inmates can disrupt security and order in correctional institutions, yet how officers handle them has received little attention. This study identifies the factors behind inmate debt disputes and analyses the conflict resolution strategies used by correctional officers at the Class IIA Purwokerto Correctional Facility, Indonesia. A descriptive qualitative case study was conducted using observation, interviews, and documentation. Data were analysed through data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing, supported by NVivo, and checked through source and technique triangulation. Galtung's concepts of peacemaking, peacekeeping, and peacebuilding and the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument served as analytical lenses. Disputes were rooted in family economic constraints, unequal family support among inmates, and daily needs, while gambling was a potential factor. Disputes emerged when borrowers' ability to repay did not match lenders' expectations. Officers combined early detection, neutral mediation, written agreements, compliance monitoring, graduated sanctions, conditional separation, rule education, basic-needs support, and personality and self-reliance programmes. Collaboration and compromise featured in early handling, competing was used when safety was threatened, accommodation was limited, and avoidance was not found. Informants reported improved relations and eased debt settlement, and recorded cases fell from seven in 2022 to two in 2026, but this decline does not establish causality. The officers' strategies appear to support the control of disputes; standardised agreements and monitoring, separation of mediation and sanctioning roles, and support for inmates without family assistance are needed.]]>
Copyrights © 2026
