NCJ Number
84072
Journal
British Journal of Criminology Volume: 22 Issue: 2 Dated: (April 1982) Pages: 140-164
Date Published
1982
Length
25 pages
Annotation
Custodial and treatment goal conflicts are examined on the basis of correctional personnel attitudes in four West German juvenile correctional institutions and one public educational center for predelinquent problem juveniles.
Abstract
The institutions involved in the study are representative of the formal types of correctional regimes in West Germany, from closed to open settings. Goal orientation was partially measured with the Correctional Practices Questionnaire, which distinguishes between treatment and security orientation. Staff were also asked to indicate the actual percentage of daily work performed in the areas of administration, custody, and treatment in contrast to their conceptions of an ideal time budget. A vast majority of personnel strongly agreed with educational training and therapy designed to produce lawabiding behavior, maturity, and autonomy; however, the security orientation of staff was also high. In comparing the ideal time-budget to the actual use of time, most advocated a significant reduction in custodial activities, and treatment staff particularly desired a reduction in administrative activities. The officers promoting greater inmate participation in institutional life tended to have a negative attitude toward security, and positive attitudes towards treatment were perceived as incompatible with acceptance of incarceration as good 'shock therapy' and punishment through imprisonment as a means of abstract satisfaction of guilt. The size of the coefficients expressing goal conflict, however, was moderate, indicating that belief systems about treatment and custody are held separately with little subjective awareness of conflict or inconsistency. This general lack of awareness on the part of staff of inconsistency in the treatment and custodial attitudes has a negative impact on inmates, who tend to be more aware of the inconsistencies in the ways they are treated. Policy reform will require greater awareness of the conflicts posed by treatment and custodial orientations. The staff questionnaire is appended, and 41 references and tabular data are provided.