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ATTITUDINAL CORRELATES OF PROFESSIONALISM - THE CORRECTIONAL WORKER

NCJ Number
37836
Journal
Criminal Justice Review Volume: 1 Issue: 2 Dated: (FALL 1976) Pages: 120-125
Author(s)
J S WILLIAMS; C W THOMAS
Date Published
1976
Length
6 pages
Annotation
THIS PAPER EXAMINES THE ATTITUDINAL CORRELATES OF PROFESSIONALISM AS THEY ARE MANIFESTED IN A SMALL SAMPLE OF CORRECTIONAL WORKERS.
Abstract
A STUDY WAS CONDUCTED TO DETERMINE THE IMPACT OF FOUR MOTIVATORS ON PROFESSIONALISM. DATA WAS GATHERED FROM QUESTIONNAIRES COMPLETED BY CORRECTIONAL WORKERS IN A MEDIUM SECURITY REFORMATORY IN A SOUTHERN STATE. FIVE SCALES WERE DEVELOPED TO EXAMINE THE RESPONSES PROFESSIONALISM, HUMANITARIAN SERVICE IDEALS, PERSONAL GAIN, COMPLEXITY OF TECHNOLOGY, AND ROUTINENESS OF TECHNOLOGY. EACH SCALE WAS ANALYZED FOR ITS DISCRIMINATORY POWER AND FOR ITEM-TO-SCALE CORRELATIONS. IT WAS FOUND THAT CORRECTIONAL WORKERS ORIENTED TOWARD PERSONAL GAIN WERE LESS LIKELY TO HAVE HIGH LEVELS OF PROFESSIONALISM AND THAT THERE IS A POSITIVE AND SUBSTANTIAL-RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HUMANITARIAN SERVICE IDEALS AND PROFESSIONALISM. AREAS OF EMPHASIS IN PROFESSIONALIZING CORRECTIONAL WORK ARE SUGGESTED.