Correctional Officer Professional Orientation: A Replication of the Klofas-Toch Measure

• NCJ Number: 108906
• Journal: Criminal Justice and Behavior Volume: 14 Issue: 4 Dated: (1987) Pages: 468-486
• Author(s): J Whitehead; C Linquist; J Klofas
• Date Published: 1987
• Length: 486 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Paper presented at Annual Meeting of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, Orlando, FL, 1986

Annotation

In view of the increasing interest in research on correctional officers, data are presented concerning the validity, reliability, and factor structure of the Klofas-Toch professional orientation inventory of correctional officer attitudes toward inmates.

Abstract

This 17-item instrument was administered to a heterogeneous sample of southern correctional officers and to a heterogeneous sample of probation and parole officers. The same four-factor structure emerged in the correctional officer data as had been reported by Klofas and Toch (1982); however, separate analyses showed differential factor ordering and loading for black and white officers. The factor structure that emerged in the probation officer data differed from the structure found in the correctional officer data. Finally, the professional orientation inventory, while found to be a valid and reliable measure, did not explain much of the variance in correctional officer job burnout. (Publisher abstract)