NCJ Number
105375
Journal
Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency Volume: 24 Issue: 2 Dated: (May 1987) Pages: 119-39
Date Published
1987
Length
21 pages
Annotation
A research instrument was prepared that lists prison violations that vary in eccentricity.
Abstract
Staff members of three Federal facilities -- one containing a subpopulation of disturbed inmates -- completed this questionnaire. Staff 'pathology' ratings of prisoner behavior proved identical for the three groups, but recommended dispositions differed between staff who work in the 'enriched' prison and the other groups. Irrespective of settings, some staff produced higher estimates of the prevalence of emotional problems among inmates than did others. The high estimators among staff also rated individual behavior descriptions more frequently as symptomatic of pathology -- again irrespective of setting. Context (including dispositional alternatives and prison philosophy) affects the range of dispositions used by staff, but it does not determine staff assessments of the rationality/irrationality of the behavior of inmates. (Author abstract)