Correctional Officers' Attitudes Toward Selected Treatment Programs

Abstract

A study was designed to examine the attitudes of a sample of correctional officers toward selected treatment programs in the Texas Department of Corrections. Questionnaires were sent to a random probability sample of 347 correctional officers, and 235 (67.7%) were returned in useable form. A master scale consisting of 59 dichotomous items was constructed to measure attitudes toward treatment programs. The scale was subdivided into six subscales, each representing a specific treatment area. The findings revealed the following as being correlated with positive attitudes toward treatment: lower rank; higher level of education; having a source of supplemental income; retired from military service; regular chuch attendance; larger community of childhood residence; assignment to inside picket duty; oriented toward a career in the Texas Department of Corrections; and age (older officers were more positive). Factors found to be negatively correlated were: number of years of service; a belief that the primary function of corrections is punishment; and viewing work as more important in rehabilitation than treatment.ith the increased performance expectations being placed on W correctional officers within the penal institutions in the United States should come adequate research, designed to help determine those qualities best suited to the expectations made

The impact of job stress, job involvement, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment on correctional staff support for rehabilitation and punishment

“…Age has sometimes been found to be positively linked with support for rehabilitation and inversely associated with punishment and custody orientation (Klofas, 1986;Paboojian & Teske, 1997;Teske & Williamson, 1979;Van Voorhis et al, 1991). Other times, age has been reported to be inversely linked to support for rehabilitation and positively related to support for punishment (Crouch & Albert, 1980Sundt & Cullen, 2002).…”

“…Education has been linked with greater support for rehabilitation, a more positive view of inmates, and inversely linked with support for punishment (Arthur, 1994;Burton et al, 1991;Jurik, Halemba, Musheno, & Boyle, 1987;Kasselbaum et al, 1964;Poole & Regoli, 1980;Robinson et al, 1993;Teske & Williamson, 1979). Other research findings, however, suggest that there is no relationship Crouch & Alpert, 1982;Cullen et al, 1989Cullen et al, , 1993Farkas, 1999;Gordon, 1999;Gordon, 2006;Jurik, 1985;Leiber & Woodrick, 1997;Paboojian & Teske, 1997;Shamir & Drory, 1981;Sundt & Cullen, 2002;Van Voorhis et al, 1991;Walters, 1995;Whitehead & Lindquist, 1989).…”

Correctional Officers’ Perceptions of Powerlessness

“…Intcrcstingly, older officers (>39 years old) feel f a r lcss powcrlcss than do youngcr officers (<31 years old) and middlc-agcd officers (31 through 39 years old). Teske and Williamson (1979) a n d Toch and Klofas (1982) have previously notcd that incrcased age is related to a prcfercncc f o r a rehabilitativc approach to corrections among corrcctional officcrs. It may well be that the maturational proccss hclps onc adapt positively to c o r r e c t i o n a l w o r k by a i d i n g in t h e development of a feeling of control over onc's lifc.…”

Correctional Officers' Perceptions of the Competency-Based Counseling Training Program in Taiwan

“…Although counselors' professional development is a complicated process, it would go through the stages of chaos, exploration, identification, and autonomy (Lee, 2000). Because of the correctional officers' responses to the change of the role from a purely custodial role to a human service one, they are a variety of reactions (Teske & Williamson, 1979), and the previous research mentioned above really improved the method and knowledge and laid the foundations for the current study.…”