Correctional Officers’ Perceptions of Powerlessness

Abstract

Corrcctional officers a r c commonly assumcd to b e p o w c r f u l agents w i t h i n t h c corrcctional facility. T h i s papcr a t t c m p t s t o mcasurc how corrcctional officcrs pcrccivc thcir position a n d its attcndant powcr.O n e hundred twcnt y-six corrcctional off iccrs a t a n Intermountain statc prison responded to a questionnaire conccrned with thcir rolc within the prison environmcnt. Pcrccived powerlcssncss among these officers was measured by utilizing the powerlessness subscalc in Dcan's Alicnation S c a l e . A d d i t i o n a l l y , p c r t i n c n t d e m o g r a p h i c i n f o r m a t i o n , information concerning structural variables within the prison, a n d the corrcctional officers' custody orientation wcrc mcasurcd.T h e d a t a wcrc thcn analyzed to establish a profile of those officers who wcrc most likely t o f e e l p o w e r l c s s w i t h i n t h e c o r r e c t i o n a l cnvironmcnt. T h e implications f o r corrcctions a r e discusscd.