Have community supervision officers changed their attitudes toward their work?

Studies of probation and parole officers' attitudes conducted in the 1960s and 1970s indicated respondents' preference for assistance over authority as the most important goal of community supervision. The present research compares results obtained from the 1970s and 1980s applications of the Authority/Assistance Questionnaire and the Correctional Policy Inventory. The findings point not only to increased concern for authority but also to the diminished meaningfulness of the assistance objective. The authors suggest that a new emphasis on surveillance, in which delivery on service is largely a means for monitoring client risk, has “crowded” the rehabilitative ideal.

This research was supported by Grant Number 83-IJ-CX-0005 from the National Institute of Justice, U.S. Department of Justice. Points of view or opinions stated in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official positions or policies of the Department of Justice. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual meetings of the American Society of Criminology on November 10, 1983 in Denver.

This research was supported by Grant Number 83-IJ-CX-0005 from the National Institute of Justice, U.S. Department of Justice. Points of view or opinions stated in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official positions or policies of the Department of Justice. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual meetings of the American Society of Criminology on November 10, 1983 in Denver.

Notes

This research was supported by Grant Number 83-IJ-CX-0005 from the National Institute of Justice, U.S. Department of Justice. Points of view or opinions stated in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official positions or policies of the Department of Justice. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual meetings of the American Society of Criminology on November 10, 1983 in Denver.