NCJ Number
104455
Journal
Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 15 Issue: 1 Dated: (1987) Pages: 49-64
Date Published
1987
Length
16 pages
Annotation
Recent observers have noted the frequently voiced complaint of prison guards that they have too little influence< on decisions about the operations and goals of prisons. This lack of influence, moreover, is though to be associated with such work-related attitudes as job satisfaction, role strain, and alienation.
Abstract
Yet, it is unclear from previous analyses whether this complaint (1) is based solely on the actual amount of control guards believe they have, (2) arises from a perceived disparity between their amount of control and that held by prisoners and administrators, or (3) reflects a felt discrepancy between the guards' actual and ideal amounts of control in the prison. The present study examined survey data from four prisons to quantify the guards' perceptions of the prison control structure and to assess the relative contributions of the perceived amount, distribution, and discrepancy between actual and ideal control for guards to the work-related attitudes of job satisfaction, role strain, and alienation. The results indicated that guards perceive the total amount of control in the prison as finite, that they desire an increase in their own level of control commensurate with the decrease they desire in the prisoners' amount of control, and that they perceived amount, distribution, and discrepancy between guards' actual and ideal control have a significant effect on guards' work-related attitudes. (Author abstract)