NCJ Number
195451
Journal
Forum on Corrections Research Volume: 14 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2002 Pages: 19-23
Date Published
2002
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This article summarizes a study of Canadian correctional officers' attitudes towards inmates and the prison system and their overall work adjustment to job stress, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment.
Abstract
This study examined four issues. It measured the correctional attitudes, work adjustment, satisfaction and organizational commitment of correctional officers and other workers in the Correctional Service of Canada. A philosophy of modern correctional institutions away from punishment, rule enforcement, physical infrastructures, and rigid management procedures towards treatment and reintegration of offenders was found to not trickle down the hierarchy from the management level to correctional officers, resulting in poor work adjustment. The empathic attitude of the correctional officers was found to be more influential in the correctional officers' adjustment than the collective attitudes of empathy, punitiveness, and support for rehabilitation on the part of the institution. It was also found that positive work outcomes of correctional officers were related to attitudes compatible with the employers' values, as opposed to attitudes that were compatible with the actual work involved, making staff recruitment and training based on a reward system important in shaping the correctional officer work force. 3 Figures, 11 notes