NCJ Number
237508
Journal
Criminal Justice and Behavior Volume: 39 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2012 Pages: 59-70
Date Published
January 2012
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This study reports the exploration of a new scale to investigate beliefs toward serious incident negotiation among prison staff.
Abstract
Negotiation forms an important part of the response to serious incidents in prison, yet staff attitudes toward negotiation have been subject to very little formal investigation. This article presents the first research into a new scale, the Beliefs About Negotiation Scale. Preliminary investigation suggests that the scale has promising psychometric properties. With respect to convergent validity, the scale has overlap with the Attitude Towards Prisoners Scale. Divergent validity was demonstrated through the more positive attitudes toward negotiation among negotiators and incident commanders, in comparison to tactical staff and general staff. The implications for these findings are considered. (Published Abstract)