Use of Force by Detention Officers

• NCJ Number: 200397
• Author(s): Marie L. Griffin
• Date Published: 2001
• Length: 136 pages
• Sale Source: LFB Scholarly Publishing LLC
• Publication Format: Book (Hardbound)
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study tested the hypothesis that correctional officers perceive conditions of the work environment and that these perceptions, representing various climates within the institution, influence the attitudes and nature of the officers' interaction with inmates, specifically an officer's readiness to use force against inmates.

Abstract

All detention officers who worked in the seven jails of Maricopa County, AZ, received a self-administered survey in July 1996. Of the 72 officers surveyed, 617 (79.9 percent) returned a usable questionnaire. The survey responses became the basis for the analysis. The survey measured officer perceptions of the organizational climate (structure and organization, supervision and support, and personal efficacy) and affective responses to the organizational climate (job satisfaction and job-related stress). The dependent variable, readiness to use force, was measured with a six-item Likert-like scale. The analysis of the survey responses relied on Ordinary Least Squares regression models. The study found that individual officer characteristics did not significantly influence an officer's expressed readiness to use force; however, five of the eight climate variables -- authority, fear of victimization, institutional operations, quality of supervision, and role ambiguity -- had a significant direct and/or indirect effect on an officer's readiness to use force. Training, organizational support, and alienation had no significant effect on an officer's readiness to use force. An officer's readiness to use force was influenced by perceived job stress, but not by job satisfaction. Role ambiguity and institutional operations significantly influenced the level of job stress. Fear of victimization also had a significant effect on job stress. Officers' perceived authority over inmates, which had the strongest direct effect on an officer's readiness to use force, might be one area that management should target to influence a detention officer's readiness to use force. Other policy implications of these findings are also discussed. 6 tables, 162 references, and a subject index