NCJ Number
146318
Journal
Crime and Delinquency Volume: 40 Issue: 1 Dated: (January 1994) Pages: 37- 53
Date Published
1994
Length
15 pages
Annotation
Researchers compared the attitudes of juvenile detention center staff at a facility where reforms have been implemented to those of workers at a facility where changes have not occurred. The implications of the findings for understanding the possible impact of reform on staff attitudes are discussed.
Abstract
Despite the important role correctional staff can play in the successful implementation of criminal justice policy reforms, very little study has been conducted on the impact of these reforms on staff attitudes. This study compares the attitudes of juvenile detention facility workers in a Broward County, Florida facility that underwent significant reforms in the late 1980s to attitudes of workers in a Florida facility that has not experienced these changes. Background on reforms and their impact on behavioral problems in Broward County is provided. Survey data was gathered from 109 workers, 58 in the Broward center and 51 in the other facility concerning their attitudes in several areas including views about their jobs, their employers and their orientation toward punishment and restriction of the juveniles in their charge. The study found significant differences in the attitudes of the two groups of workers toward punishment of juvenile offenders but little difference in other attitudes. Implications of the findings for understanding the impact of reforms on behavior and attitudes are addressed.