NCJ Number
180394
Journal
Canadian Journal of Criminology Volume: 41 Issue: 4 Dated: October 1999 Pages: 513-534
Date Published
1999
Length
22 pages
Annotation
A total of 125 inmates and 92 correctional staff in a Canadian maximum-security prison completed a questionnaire designed to measure "pluralistic ignorance," which refers to a process whereby members of a group inaccurately perceive group opinion and are misled by vocal, visible, and assertive group leaders into believing that their own opinions are less popular and less widely shared than they actually are.
Abstract
The result of "pluralistic ignorance" is a "perceived group opinion" that is not representative of the actual attitudes of the group members. The current research aims to show that guards and inmates are more similar in beliefs and attitudes than the officer/inmate dichotomy suggests. Respondents in this study were asked to read nine scenarios and to answer questions about the scenarios. Six of the scenarios involved inmates as the central characters, and three featured correctional officers. This article reports the results for the six scenarios that involved inmates. The scenarios attempted to portray realistic situations in which the central character is faced with a dilemma and chooses either a prosocial or an antisocial action. The findings suggest that "pluralistic ignorance" may exist among inmates and guards in the Canadian institution involved in the study. Both inmates and guards misperceived group opinion, but unlike the subjects in a similar U.S. study conducted in the late 1950's, in which inmates were more extreme than guards in their misperceptions, the current study shows that the guards were more inaccurate in their perceptions. They held more extreme negative misperceptions of group opinion than did the inmates. Previous findings suggest that stress and violence among inmates might be reduced by exposing the stereotypes and misperceptions that exist in the minds of inmates. If misperceptions are greater among correctional officers, however, these findings suggest that sharing communication with guards could set the stage for a broader discussion of misperceptions among both groups. 1 figure, 2 tables, 10 references, and appended scenarios used in the current study and in Wheeler's similar study