Thrice Judged and the Powerless - Implications for Research (From Problems, Thoughts, and Processes in Criminal Justice Administration, 1969, P 72-81, Alvin W Cohn, ed. - See NCJ-84895)

• NCJ Number: 84899
• Author(s): J Wildeman
• Date Published: 1969
• Length: 10 pages
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Available on microfiche as NCJ-84895

Annotation

To assess factors in probation officers' decisionmaking, two important and as yet unexplored variables must be taken into account: the variable of prior labels for the probationer and the variable of threat to the decisionmaker.

Abstract

At each stage of the criminal justice process, a new label ('suspect,' 'criminal,' 'convict,' 'parolee,' etc.) is affixed to the person being processed. The probation officer comes into contact with the offender at a late stage in the labeling process. The decisionmaking of the probation officer is thus set within a framework where decisions are made about a person already officially labeled as deviant. Research must examine how the officer's perception of deviance affects his/her response to the probationer. In addition to having a series of negative labels, the probationer is also in a relatively powerless position, which may also affect the officer's decisionmaking about the probationer. Persons lacking the ability to have their interests backed by power normally pose no great threat to those with contrary interests. Consequently, this factor must also be viewed by the social investigator as critical in the decisionmaking process. Six footnotes are listed.