Psychology in Prison: Role Assessment and Testing of an Organizational Model (From Criminal Behavior and the Justice System: Psychological Perspectives, P 419-439, 1989, Hermann Wegener, et al, eds. -- See NCJ-116624)

• NCJ Number: 116648
• Author(s): F Losel; T Bliesener
• Date Published: 1989
• Length: 21 pages
• Sale Source: Springer-Verlag
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

An empirical study conducted in the Federal Republic of Germany focused on the structure of role perceptions for psychologists employed in the penal system, on the structure of their activities, and on their dependence on situational conditions.

Abstract

The 91 participating psychologists anonymously completed structured questionnaires. Forty-four percent of the respondents were from closed prisons for adults, 12 percent from open prisons for adults, 32 percent from prisons for youthful offenders, and 12 percent from social therapeutic prisons. Information was gathered on objective situational features like the type of prison, the ratio of personnel to prisoners, and the geographic location; the perceived role demands related to security, treatment, and organization management and development; and the time spent on each type of activity. Results showed that the psychologists considered the demands of counseling, treatment, and rehabilitation of prisoners to be of primary importance. They also placed a relatively high weight on the tasks associated with organization management and development. Path analysis showed that psychologists orient themselves toward the perceived demands of their role partners and also define their roles relatively autonomously when conflicting demands exist. Institutional pressures also affect the achievement of their own role definitions. Situational variables showed a clear relationship between the psychologists' reported activities. Figures, tables, and 70 references.