NCJ Number
188607
Journal
Corrections Management Quarterly Volume: 5 Issue: 2 Dated: Spring 2001 Pages: 27-40
Date Published
2001
Length
14 pages
Annotation
In an effort to determine how correctional staff view the use of force in corrections, this study developed and administered a questionnaire to correctional staff in several prisons and jails in a western State.
Abstract
The survey was administered in 1998 and 1999 and focused on correctional ethics and the correctional role. The survey instrument was intended to provide a means of determining workplace perceptions and attitudes regarding the correctional role and ethics. Out of 588 staff surveyed, 467 responses were received. The vast majority of respondents in both types of facilities were security staff. Although the instrument contained 69 items, only 14 of these dealt with the use of force in corrections. This analysis focuses on the responses to these survey items. The survey supported the researchers' general expectation that there would be greater support for a restraint perspective (translated as higher means) at the jails, the minimum security prison, and the women's prison, than at the maximum security facility. Regarding the sociodemographic variables of officers, younger staff tended to be more supportive of the use of force than older staff, and staff with the least and greatest number of years of service tended to be less supportive of use of force than staff with a moderate amount of service. The impact of prior military service, gender, and age was slight. 4 tables and 59 references