Occupational stress and the line correctional officer

Stress is clearly a part of the human condition, especially in today’s crowded and complex society. In the criminal justice system in particular, occupational stress can be seen to be a problem for its employees. The present study examined aspects of stress for the line correctional officer, utilizing a number of approaches. Situations perceived as stressful were identified by interviews conducted with correctional officers. Information was then gathered by interviewing a second sample as to the types of coping responses available to correctional officers in these situations. The results indicated that officers reported periodic work overload, the handling of promotions, and conflicts with supervisors and initiates to be the most stressful situations. Correctional officers also indicated that in most of the stressful situations generated, there were few coping responses available to them, and that they had little or no control over these situations. Since most of the situations presented to correctional officers resulted in no constructive coping responses, the hypothesis was advanced that correctional officers who stay on the job develop cognitive coping processes in order to handle stressful situations. Furthermore, correctional officers tended to deny the stresses of the occupation and consequently experience feelings of helplessness and alienation.     

Partisan and ideological belief systems: Do they differ?

In this paper a direct comparison is made between the cognitive content of ideological and partisan belief systems. A quasi-experimental design was used in a two-part study. Subjects were randomly assigned to either a partisan or ideological condition and asked to categorize and then scale contemporary leaders, groups, and issues as either Democrat or Republican, liberal or conservative. Results indicate that the meanings of partisan and ideological belief systems are quite similar — their cognitive attributes (issues, groups, and leaders) are interchangeable at the categorical level and highly correlated (r=0.86) in their degree of typicality. Political sophistication is determined to contribute significantly to the degree to which partisan and ideological belief systems are related. For politically sophisticated subjects (Ss) the two belief systems are highly related (r=0.90), whereas for low sophisticates, the belief systems are only moderately related (r=0.50). Sophistication also plays an important role in structuring Ss' own issue preferences. High sophisticates in both the liberal-conservative and Democratic-Republican conditions exhibit a greater level of issue constraint, which can be interpreted as either ideological or partisan constraint.Paper delivered at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, September 1983.     

Conferencing in aboriginal communities in Canada: Finding middle ground in criminal justice?

This essay was written while the author was a Visiting Fellow, Law Program, Research School of Social Science, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia. The outline for this essay was first presented at a seminar convened jointly by the Law Program and the Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, Australian National University, March 22, 1995.     

Contract–Management Capacity in Municipal and County Governments

Under pressure to do more with less, governments across the country have moved from direct service provision to providing services by contract. Proponents argue that contracting can reduce costs and improve flexibility and customer satisfaction. Critics point to a growing number of failed contracts, arguing there are numerous pitfalls associated with contracting. Missing from these debates is a discussion of how governments' managerial capacity can improve contract performance. In this article, we identify specific capacities that governments can use to harness the promise of contracting while avoiding its pitfalls. We present analyses of data on municipal and county government contracting activities that show how governments invest in contract– management capacity in response to several internal and external threats to effective contract performance. Because government investment in contract–management capacity is uneven—that is, some governments invest in less capacity even when circumstances would call for more—our analyses may help to explain why some contract arrangements are more successful than others.