Correctional officers are the most numerous of staff in correctional institutions, and thus an important component in the functioning of the prison. Previous research has identified a subgroup of correctional officers, described as custody oriented, who value the security and supervision aspect of corrections work and frequently hold negative attitudes towards inmates. To ascertain the variables that may give rise to a custody orientation and to determine if these variables operate cross-culturally, the author examined the attitudes of 229 American and 339 Canadian correctional officers. The custody orientation of both groups was virtually identical, but the determinants of this custody orientation were quite different for the two groups. Two variables were found to be related to the Americans' custody orientation (work stress and security level), while five variables had the same effect on the Canadians (job satisfaction, marital status, race, working relationship with other officers, and rank). Tables, notes, references