Exploring the linkage between changes in detainees’ perceptions of procedural justice and changes in misconduct

ABSTRACT

A growing body of research has studied the role of procedural justice for securing compliant behavior in the correctional context. The purpose of this paper is to advance current knowledge by examining (a) whether detainees change their perceptions of prison staff procedural justice over time, and (b) the extent to which individual changes in procedural justice relate to changes in misconduct. We used longitudinal data on 712 adults who entered Dutch pre-trial detention centers. Reliable change index scores were used to identify changes in procedural justice experienced in contacts with prison staff. Logistic regression models were employed to estimate the effects of changes in procedural justice on changes in misconduct. The results show that detainees’ perceptions of fairness are malleable, and that most detainees (52.2%) experience a decrease in procedural justice during imprisonment. Detainees reporting an increase in procedural justice are less likely to show increases in misconduct. Furthermore, those with high procedural justice perceptions at both times are more likely to abstain from misconduct at both times. More research is needed to improve our knowledge on individual changes in procedural justice and changes in actual behavior.

KEYWORDS:

• Detainees
• Procedural justice
• Changes
• Prison staff
• Misconduct

Data availability statement

Participants of this study did not consent to have their data shared publicly, so supporting data is not available.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 To identify studies (published after 2000) that examined changes in procedural justice among criminal justice-involved individuals, we performed a literature search. Different electronic databases (i.e. Criminal Justice Abstracts, Sociological Abstracts, Google Scholar & APA PsycINFO) were searched with relevant keywords (e.g. procedural justice, procedural fairness, changes, developments, prisoners, offenders, detainees) and reference lists were screened to collect relevant studies. Based on this search, we identified six studies, as outlined in Table 1.

2 While acknowledging that more longitudinal studies on procedural justice among criminal justice-involved populations exists, we focused on studies assessing individual changes in procedural justice. In other words, only studies that examined how individuals change their procedural justice perceptions – by using paired samples t-test or other statistical analyses among offending populations – were included in Table 1.

3 Detainees were included in the analyses if they had a valid value on at least 7 of the 11 items.

4 The following formula has been used: RCI = x(time 2) – x(time 1) / ((sdx1 * (1 – rx1) + sdx2 * (1 – rx2)). The xtime are procedural justice scores for a detainee at both points in time. The sdx refers to the standard deviation and rx refers to the internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha) at specific time points.

5 In the first three weeks since arrival in pre-trial detention (T1), official reports showed that 73 detainees (10.3 percent) engaged in misconduct, while the percentage self-reported misconduct was higher (N = 115, 16.2 percent). Since the first wave of the Prison Project, official reports showed that 238 detainees (33.4 percent) engaged in misconduct, and the percentage of self-reported misconduct was fairly similar (N = 247, 34.7 percent).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by an Open Competition grant of the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO: 406.18.RB.011).