Noteworthy Personnel Findings From the Women's Jail Study

• NCJ Number: 172141
• Journal: American Jails Volume: 11 Issue: 3 Dated: (July-August 1997) Pages: 45-46,49-50,52,54-56
• Author(s): M J Stohr
• Date Published: 1997
• Length: 8 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

A study of 7 jails that housed only female inmates and that each had more than 100 inmates provided information on the correctional personnel and their experiences and attitudes.

Abstract

The research was funded by the Jails Division of the National Institute of Corrections. The staff information was part of the data collected by means of interviews, inmate and staff questionnaires, observations, and a profile form during site visits to five of the jails in summer 1992 and mailings to two additional jails in the fall and winter of 1992-93. One hundred eighty-two staff members completed and returned the staff questionnaires, for an overall response rate of 41 percent. Results supported what is already known or expected about correctional work. As predicted, female correctional officers were more supportive of affirmative action than males. In addition, the extent of sexual harassment victimization was relatively low, although notably recent, in these women's jails. This finding is consistent with the literature that indicates that predominantly female institutions will have lower levels of reported sexual harassment than other institutions. This finding also indicates that in jails with more female than male staff, women may have situational and achieved power to wield in protecting themselves against sexual harassment. Also as predicted, males and females were generally similar in the types of training they valued or in their assessments of job enrichment and job satisfaction. Both genders ranked service-related training highly. Finally, these correctional officers did not have a very positive perception of the enriching characteristics of their work or the satisfaction they might gain from it. Findings indicate the need for jail managers and policy makers to attend to the needs of their workers for enriching and rewarding careers in jails. Tables, notes, and 28 references