NCJ Number
102760
Journal
International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology Volume: 30 Issue: 2 Dated: (1986) Pages: 111-124
Date Published
1986
Length
14 pages
Annotation
To examine variation in correctional officer orientations and attitudes regarding discretion and interest in human service roles, a questionnaire was developed and administered to officers working in four maximum-security institutions (Ossining, Auburn, Great Meadow, and Clinton Prisons) in New York State.
Abstract
Of 1,739 questionnaires distributed, 832 (47.8 percent) completed instruments were returned. Analysis of data reveals no support for suggestions of urban-rural differences in correctional officers' human service perspectives. No significant differences in attitudes were found for race either for the sample as a whole or for the urban Ossining sample (which contained most of the black correctional officers). Finally, contrary to popular assumptions equating youth with human service interest, human service interest increased monotonically with age. Only 10 percent of officers under 25 years old expressed high interest, while 70 percent expressed low or mid-low interest. For officers 50 and over, nearly 32 percent were rated high, and only 38.5 percent fell into the low or mid-low interest categories. 4 tables, 7 notes, and 31 references.