The basic tasks of the prison system are to protect the society from perpetrators of criminal offenses and to achieve the purpose of executing prison sentences, organizing detainees' stay and their motivation to prepare for life outside the prison system in accordance with social norms and mitigate the adverse consequences of imprisonment. The quality of communication between prison staff and prisoners enables better achievement of the purpose of punishment and compliance with European and other international standards for managingthe prison system and the prison population. An important role in rehabilitation of prisoners and their successful inclusion in the community upon returning from serving prison sentences is relationship between the prison system and prison staff and the society as a whole during their imprisonment. The focus of this paper is on communication between prison staff and prisoners, as communication is one of the key features for successful execution of the punishment of imprisonment. A survey was carried out on prison staff in order to determine the extent to which the employees of Prison in Zagreb (Zatvor u Zagrebu) are aware of the importance of quality communication with the prisoners. The employees completed a written questionnaire with 25 questions. The results of the survey covered the responses of 135 prison staff in Zagreb. The obtained results have shown that prison staff are well aware of the purpose of serving the sentence and that they are aware of the importance of good communication.