NCJ Number
14507
Date Published
1970
Length
111 pages
Annotation
OPINION SURVEYS ON HOW WEST GERMAN PRISON GUARDS, PRISON OFFICIALS, PRISONERS AND POTENTIAL PRISON GUARDS SEE THE JOB, THE IMAGE AND THE ROLE OF A PRISON GUARD.
Abstract
A SURVEY WAS CONDUCTED AMONG 300 PRISON GUARDS IN NORTH RHINE-WESTPHALIA. QUESTIONS DEALT WITH THEIR PERSONAL HISTORY, SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS AND ATTITUDES TOWARD JOB, CO-WORKERS, PRISONERS, THE PURPOSES OF IMPRISONMENT AND PRISON REFORM. IT WAS CONCLUDED THAT, BY AND LARGE, THE GUARDS ARE NOT QUALIFIED AND MAKE LITTLE EFFORT TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE RESOCIALIZATION OF THE INMATES. IN GENERAL, HOWEVER, THEY WOULD LIKE TO BE ABLE TO DO SO AND WOULD WELCOME THE CHANCE TO RECEIVE TRAINING DIRECTED TOWARD THAT END. THEY TEND TO TAKE LITTLE PRIDE IN THEIR WORK AND FEEL THAT CHANCES FOR ADVANCEMENT ARE SLIM. A SIMILAR SURVEY WAS CONDUCTED IN THE CITY OF GIESSEN REGARDING THE PRISON GUARDS' IMAGE. RESPONSES WERE OBTAINED FROM FOUR GROUPS DEEMED TO BE KNOWLEDGEABLE ON THE SUBJECT - 45 PRISON GUARDS, 99 PRISONERS, 13 PRISON OFFICIALS AND 64 SKILLED WORKERS, THE SOCIAL GROUP FROM WHICH MOST PRISON GUARDS COME. IN GENERAL, THE GUARDS AND PRISON SYSTEM OFFICIALS VIEWED THAT IMAGE MORE FAVORABLY THAN THE PRISONERS AND SKILLED WORKERS. THE GUARDS AND SKILLED WORKERS SAW THE GUARDS' FUNCTION AS MOST RESEMBLING THAT OF A SOCIAL WELFARE WORKER AND SECONDARILY THAT OF A POLICEMAN. FOR THE PRISONERS THOSE ROLES WERE REVERSED. THE GUARDS RATED THEMSELVES HIGHER THAN DID ANY OF THE OTHER GROUPS ON INITIATIVE, INDEPENDENT JUDGMENT AND WILLINGNESS TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY. INCLUDED IN THE STUDIES ARE DESCRIPTIONS OF THE RESEARCH METHODOLOGIES USED AND DETAILED BREAKDOWNS OF THE RESULTS OF THE SURVEYS. --IN GERMAN