NCJ Number
112924
Journal
Criminal Justice and Behavior Volume: 15 Issue: 2 Dated: (June 1988) Pages: 190-209
Date Published
1988
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This article explores the correctional policy orientations and role stress experiences of deputy sheriffs during their career as jail guards.
Abstract
The findings suggest that deputies bring to their jail assignment a variety of correctional policy orientations that vary across career phases. The proportion of deputies committed to a restraint orientation is greater during the later career phases, while the proportion of deputies committed to a rehabilitation orientation is greater during the earlier career phases. For reform and reintegrative orientations, the proportion of deputies is relatively uniform across the career phases. The data also indicate that the degree of role stress is a function of the interaction between career phase and correctional policy orientation. For restraint- and reform-oriented officers a curvilinear pattern of role stress emerges, with higher levels of stress evidenced during the middle phase. In contrast, rehabilitative- and reintegrative-oriented officers exhibit increased role stress across the career phases, with higher levels of stress demonstrated during the late phase. (Publisher abstract)