NCJ Number
140684
Journal
Journal of Crime and Justice Volume: 15 Issue: 2 Dated: (1992) Pages: 177-184
Date Published
1992
Length
8 pages
Annotation
The impact of the correctional setting on the research experience was examined through the experience of conducting a survey at a local correctional facility.
Abstract
A survey questionnaire distributed to correctional officers at the Milwaukee County House of Corrections was designed to examine certain individual and organizational variables as possible sources of correctional officer attitudes toward inmates and interaction with inmates. Successful entree to this correctional setting did not eliminate obstacles involved in the data acquisition. Both the decision maker and officers were concerned primarily about accommodating the research project within the parameters of institutional concerns. Consequently, the researcher was constrained in the collection of data in terms of time span, mobility, depth, and scope of the research inquiry. Additional problems with data acquisition revolved around the issues of peer pressure, suspicion, routine, and conformity constraints. Clearly, there are inherent problems to conducting field research in the correctional environment. 7 references