Perceptions of Social Climate in a Juvenile Correctional Institution

• NCJ Number: 168908
• Journal: Journal of Offender Rehabilitation Volume: 25 Issue: 1/2 Dated: 1997 Pages: 143-162
• Author(s): Benjamin W. Smith; Michael O. Maume; Scott M. Reiner
• Date Published: 1997
• Length: 20 pages
• Grant Number(s): 1 HS1 T100703
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Health and Human Services
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This research investigated the social climate of a juvenile training school by using a modified therapeutic-community model.

Abstract

The researchers presumed that there would be two major structural characteristics involved in the social climate of the institution: institutional goals and organizational form. It was hypothesized that although there would be variations in the perception of social climate between staff members and residents, variation among staff categories would be less significant than perceptions among staff at adult institutions. One juvenile training school with a mixed-goal approach (having both custodial and treatment institutional goals) was examined for this study. The data were collected with Form R of the Correctional Institution Environment Scale questionnaire. Researchers collected completed questionnaires from 90 staff members and 97 residents. An analysis of variance supported the main hypothesis that there would be few significant differences among perceptions of various types of staff members, and there were significant differences between staff and resident perceptions. 3 tables, 2 figures, and 27 references