What Makes or Breaks Evidence-Based Supervision? Staff and Organizational Predictors of Evidence-Based Practice in Probation

Abstract

Research on staff and organizational factors that affect receptivity, adoption, feasibility, and utilization of innovations in justice settings is limited. This study uses survey data from 349 employees in one probation agency to assess how staff and perceived organizational factors influence attitudes related to evidence-based practices (EBPs) and their self-reported use. Staff characteristics, including education and knowledge about EBPs, and perceptions of the organization, including cynicism about the organization’s ability to change, predicted EBP outcomes. Staff age, tenure at the agency, and caseload size affected perceptions of organizational culture, but did not predict attitudes or use of EBPs. There is weak evidence for a relationship between self-reported use of EBPs with attitudinal support for EBPs, prior EBP training, and knowledge of EBPs. This study contributes to an emerging body of literature about the impact of various individual and organizational factors on support for EBPs with important lessons for implementation.

What Factors Contribute to Differential Perceptions Toward Evidence-Based Practices? An Examination of Officer Role Orientation, Job Satisfaction, Confidence, and Skill Proficiency

“…As a result, evidence-based trainings for officers have the potential to improve correctional practice, yet not every officer that participates in training has positive perceptions of EBPs (e.g., Guy et al, 2014; Miller & Maloney, 2013; Shook & Sarri, 2007; Viglione, 2019). Prior research suggests that implementation of EBPs is complex, and a number of factors impact the differential perceptions and use of EBPs (e.g., attitudes toward EBPs, organizational climate, knowledge of EBPs, person-organizational fit; for example, Blasko et al, 2019; Debus-Sherrill et al, 2023; Viglione, 2019). Consequently, it is critical to examine what factors contribute to officers’ perceptions of EBPs’ posttraining to increase the likelihood that officers will put the skills from these training programs into practice.…”