PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE OF PENITENTIARY OFFICERS IN UKRAINE: ESSENCE, STRUCTURE AND CONTENT

The result of professional training in a higher educational institution with specific training conditions may be a readiness indicator to professional activity of a future penitentiary officer or his / her professional competence formation. The acquisition of latest knowledge, skills and abilities by future penitentiary professionals as well as certain level of perception of future professional and quasi-professional activity conditions and features are important components and a certain guarantee of normal adaptation of young officers of the State Criminal and Executive Service of Ukraine. The purpose of the study is to determine more deeply the essence, structure and content of the concept of «professional competence» of future penitentiary officers of Ukraine in a higher educational institution with specific training conditions on the basis of the competent approach. Methodology. The research was based on the use of analysis and synthesis of pedagogical, psychological literature on the research problem, as well as the generalization of existing theoretical approaches to clarify universal statements about the essence and peculiarities of the concepts of «readiness for professional activity» and «professional competence» of future penitentiary officers of Ukraine. The structure of professional competence of a future penitentiary officer is presented as well as the contents of components for professional competence of future officers the State Criminal and Executive Service of Ukraine, considering the current requirements of the country’s penitentiary reform. The above mentioned considerations allowed us to present our notion of the main functions (subspecies) of the professional officers` activity of the State Criminal and Executive Service of Ukraine and the contents of professional competence components of future penitentiary officers studying on the specialty 262 «Law Enforcement» of the first (bachelor’s) and the second (master’s) degree of higher education. For both levels of higher education, the structure of professional competence of a future penitentiary professional includes five main components: cognitive, functional, motivational, valuable and personal. Regarding to activities of the penitentiary service, the research activities is also added to the second (master's) degree, as a penitentiary professional, who has a master’s degree, must have good analytical skills and abilities to apply the research results in practice of planning, organizing, administering, controlling personal professional activity and improving the functioning of the penitentiary institution in which he is serving.