Side-bets and reciprocity as determinants of organizational commitment among correctional officers

Organizational commitment is a particularly salient characteristic of the prison work climate due to the stressful working conditions and high rate of turnover among correctional officers nationwide, yet little is known about the factors that predict the level of organizational commitment among officers. Becker's (1960) side-bets hypothesis predicts greater commitment among those who develop additional investments in the job that would be lost with a change of jobs, and the reciprocity hypothesis predicts greater commitment among those who feel they are well treated, supported, and respected by the organization. This study used a sample of 546 correctional officers to examine the relative effects of side bets and reciprocity on two components of organizational commitment—affective commitment and continuance commitment. The results of a multivariate OLS regression analysis indicated that reciprocity had a greater effect than side bets on affective commitment but that side bets had a greater effect than reciprocity on continuance commitment. These findings, which provide partial support for the side-bet hypothesis and strong support for the reciprocity hypothesis, are discussed in terms of the link between organizational commitment and other work-related behaviors.     

A Comparison of Forensic and Nonforensic Malingerers: A Prototypical Analysis of Explanatory Models

Explanatory models of malingering strive to understand the primary motivation underlying attempts to feign. Rogers, Sewell, and Goldstein (1994) provided empirical support for the conceptualization of pathogenic, criminological, and adaptational models. In the current study, a prototypical analysis of 221 forensic experts results in a slightly refined formulation: the adaptational model was decomposed into its two broad dimensions (cost–benefit analysis and adversarial setting). An important finding is that the factor structure for the explanatory models remained stable when applied to both forensic and nonforensic cases. As a first investigation, significant differences were observed in prototypical cases of malingering by the category of referral (forensic or nonforensic) and by type of feigning (mental disorders, cognitive impairment, and medical syndromes). Surprisingly, the feigning of medical syndromes appeared to play a relatively prominent role in both forensic and nonforensic cases and to be influenced by the apparent adversarial context of the assessment. Finally, important gender differences were observed, especially with nonforensic prototypical cases of malingering.     

Factors influencing adoption of automation at wastewater treatment plants in Japan

Japan stands among several nations in the forefront of applying advanced computer technologies to the automation of wastewater treatment plant operations. Three case studies of implementation of innovative information technologies at Japanese sewage treatment plants are presented. Analysis of the cases demonstrates how sociocultural factors, including personal and professional networks, long-term relationships, lifetime employment, and a sense of social responsibility, have contributed to Japan's ability to transfer new computer technologies from research environments to municipal wastewater treatment plants. Srinija Srinivasan, a graduate of Stanford University's Symbolic Systems Program, is a researcher with Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation. She and her colleagues are working on Cyc, a large-scale artificial intelligence project to encode common-sense knowledge.     

The correctional staff burnout literature

Correctional staff job burnout is costly to all involved. As such, it has generated a growing body of research. This study reviewed 53 empirical studies of correctional staff burnout and two review articles published between 1981 and 2014. The majority of studies focused on staff working in a variety of institutional positions, fewer studies focused exclusively on the subgroup of correctional officers, and even fewer focused on a different subgroup. The majority of studies also involved staff at US government-run adult prisons. Most but not all studies utilized Maslach’s Burnout Inventory. Research on the antecedents of job burnout among correctional staff is more common than research on the possible consequences or outcomes of job burnout. Interestingly, despite the empirical emphasis on antecedents of burnout, there has been almost no research on effective interventions designed to deal with correctional staff burnout. Based on this narrative review, significant gaps remain in the research on correctional staff burnout.     

Community-based forensic child and adolescent mental health services in England,Scotland and Wales: a national mapping exercise

Aim: We sought to ascertain the current nature of specialist community mental health provision for young people presenting with risk of harm to others or involvement with the youth justice system in England, Wales and Scotland. Methods: Questionnaire-based survey. Results: Fifty-five services were contacted, 48 responded and 35 of these were found to be providing some form of community mental health provision to high-risk young people. Thirteen services provided comprehensive community forensic child and adolescent mental health (FCAMH) services, whilst the remainder offered more ad hoc clinical input. Amongst the comprehensive FCAMH services, staffing, function, commissioning arrangements and population served varied widely. Conclusions: There is patchy geographical provision of comprehensive community FCAMH services across England, Scotland and Wales with heterogeneous commissioning arrangements, staffing and function. Development of a national commissioning strategy for community FCAMH services is required to ensure that the complex needs of high-risk young people are adequately addressed.