ORIENTATION AND ACTIVITIES OF THE PAROLE OFFICER (FROM PROBATION, PAROLE, AND COMMUNITY CORRECTIONS. 2D ED., 1976 BY ROBERT M CARTER AND LESLIE T WILKINS - SEE NCJ-35412)

• NCJ Number: 35417
• Author(s): R DEMBO
• Date Published: 1976
• Length: 16 pages
• Corporate Author: John Wiley and Sons
• Publication Format: Document
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

THIS STUDY OUTLINED DIMENSIONS OF TREATMENT AND SURVEILLANCE PHILOSOPHIES WHICH APPEAR TO UNDERLIE THE PAROLE SUPERVISION PROCESS AND RELATED THESE TO THE OFFICER'S BACKGROUND, ATTITUDES, AND JOB ACTIVITIES.

Abstract

THIS ORIENTATION-ACTIVITY APPROACH CONSIDERED DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PUNISHMENT-ORIENTED AND REINTEGRATIVE-ORIENTED OFFICERS BASED ON THREE DIMENSIONS OF SOCIAL-PSYCHOLOGICAL ORIENTATION: THE CONCEPTION OF THE PAROLEE, THE VIEW OF PAROLE PURPOSES, AND THE BELIEF IN METHOD OF RULE ENFORCEMENT. A NUMBER OF RELATED JOB ACTIVITIES AND DECISION-ACTIONS WERE STUDIED TO DETERMINE THE EXTENT TO WHICH THEY REFLECTED THE DIFFERENCES IN THE MAIN CONCERNS OF OFFICERS HOLDING EACH OF THE ORIENTATIONS. MEASURED WERE EXCESS HOURS WORKED, RATIO OF ABSCONDER VISITS MADE, NUMBER OF MOTOR VEHICLE LICENSE REFERRALS, RATE OF CLIENTS DECLARED IN TECHNICAL VIOLATION, AND PERCENTAGE OF TECHNICALLY VIOLATED CLIENTS RECOMMENDED FOR RETURN TO PRISON. NINETY-FOUR OF THE 98 PAROLE OFFICERS WITH FOUR OR MORE YEARS' EMPLOYMENT IN THE NEW YORK STATE DIVISION OF PAROLE (THE LAST TWO YEARS BEING IN CONTINUOUS CASELOAD SUPERVISION) WERE INTERVIEWED. TWO DATA SOURCES WERE USED - OFFICER INTERVIEWS AND REVIEW OF AGENCY RECORDS FOR JOB ACTIVITY AND DECISION-ACTION INFORMATION. THE OFFICER INTERVIEW SCHEDULE INCLUDED 20 RATING-SCALE ITEMS TO PROBE LOCATIONS ON THE THREE ORIENTATION DIMENSIONS. CORRELATION ANALYSES OF OFFICER ORIENTATIONS ESTABLISHED A SIGNIFICANT RELATIONSHIP TO THEIR PLACE OF LONGEST RESIDENCE, LIBERAL-CONSERVATIVE ATTITUDES, CASES PREFERRED TO SUPERVISE, JOB DISSATISFACTIONS, CONTROL ATTITUDES, PART-TIME EMPLOYMENT, AND RATE OF TECHNICAL VIOLATION WARRANT ISSUANCE. AGE WAS POSITIVELY RELATED TO REINTEGRATIVE SCORES, PLACE OF LONGEST RESIDENCE, AND TO ISSUANCE OF TECHNICAL VIOLATION WARRANTS. YEARS OF SUPERVISNG PAROLEES WAS RELATED TO CONSERVATIVE ATTITUDES AND JOB DISSATISFACTIONS DUE TO DIFFICULT CASES, POLITICAL ASPECTS, CONSTANT CRISES SITUATIONS OR LONG HOURS.