Mary Ann Farkas

Sex offender community notification: Managing high risk criminals or exacting further vengeance?

The current trend in dealing with convicted sex offenders is to impose long prison sentences followed by stringent release conditions. Added to this practice has been the policy of making such offenders who have been returned to society more visible to the public. In state after state, sex offender community notification laws have been passed, enabling communities to be put on notice that a convicted sex offender has become a resident. To date there has been little empirical evidence regarding the impact of these laws on managing sex offenders in the community. This study focuses on the social and psychological effects of community notification on sex offender reintegration within those communities where notification has occurred. Data are derived from face-to-face interviews with 30 convicted sex offenders, residing in various locations throughout Wisconsin, who were the subjects of community notification. The findings indicate that community notification can have a critical impact on the minimum essentials needed for the reintegration of offenders within the community. What is proposed is a reintegrative approach which suggests that stable housing and employment would mitigate the disruptive and antitherapeutic effects of community notification.

Correctional officer attitudes toward inmates and working with inmates in a "get tough" era

The past few decades have seen an ideological shift to a more punitive attitude in policy and practice toward crime and criminal offenders. This study examined the orientation of local correctional officers toward inmates and worked with inmates to ascertain whether their attitudes mirror this punitive inclination. Findings indicate that despite the more punitive sentiment among the public and policymakers, officers still do not express a punitive attitude toward inmates and generally support rehabilitation programs for inmates. The study also looked at the impact of several individual characteristic and work variables on officer attitudes. Results show work variables are more strongly associated with attitudes among correctional officers. The implications of this research for correctional management are discussed.

Sex offender community notification: examining the importance of neighborhood meetings.

Within the last decade, federal and state laws have been passed authorizing or requiring the notification of local residents that a convicted sex offender will be released and living in their neighborhood. The community meeting method of notifying neighborhood residents, although the subject of extensive news media attention, has been largely overlooked by empirical researchers. This study focuses on the experience of residents who attend such meetings and how that experience factors into a collective response on the part of the community. Data are derived from attendee surveys and recorded observations taken at all community notification meetings held throughout Wisconsin during a nine month period. The findings suggest that community notification meetings, if properly conducted, can perform an important role in managing the behavior of known sex offenders in the community. However the decision to notify and involve the public in an informal network of neighborhood surveillance may come at the cost of increased community anxiety. This anxiety is related to how the attendees were notified of the meeting, how clearly the purpose of the meeting was conveyed, and how organized the meeting appeared to the audience. Suggestions on how to more effectively utilize the community meeting method of notification are presented.

The Impact of Sex-Offender Community Notification on Probation/Parole in Wisconsin

Sex-offender community notification legislation has had far-reaching consequences for those who must work within its mandates of community protection and safety. Increased responsibilities and greater expectations placed on probation and parole agents with sex-offender caseloads are among such consequences, This study examines the impact of Wisconsin’s notification law on these agents and their adaptation to the changes in the way sex offenders are managed in the community. Results of the study indicate that although community notification may achieve important objectives in the realm of public awareness and community protection, these gains come at a high cost for corrections in terms of personnel, time, and budgetary resources. Several issues are considered for state and local policy makers, as well as for probation/parole administrators, supervisors, and agents.

A Typology of Correctional Officers

This descriptive study examined types of correctional officers in a systematic fashion across four dimensions: orientation toward rule enforcement, orientation toward negotiation or exchange with inmates, extent of norms of mutual obligation toward coworkers, and interest in human service delivery. In-depth interviews were conducted with officers to characterize their approaches to the job and what they perceived as officer styles. A typology was constructed from interviews with 79 officers at two medium-security state correctional institutions. The data indicated that there were distinct and varied types. Rule enforcers, hard liners, and loners reproduced official goals, values, and modes of conduct of the organization. Other types, people workers and synthetic officers, modified formal definitions and imperatives and developed their own norms, values, and ways of doing the job. Still other types identified by respondents rejected or ignored the official organizational goals.

THE OCCUPATIONAL CULTURE OF CORRECTIONS AND POLICE OFFICERS

ABSTRACT This paper is a comparative analysis of the police and corrections occupations in the criminal justice system. Using field data and interviews gathered in several American police departments and in correctional sites in the Midwest, it explores the extent to which these occupations can be characterized by common analytic themes. Several matters are analyzed: features of the work, the bureaucratic environment of the work, and structural factors, such as their inspectorial strategy, rank structure and hierarchical chain of command, rule orientation. Finally, the occupational culture(s) of policing and correctional work is contrasted and compared. Neither culture is a unitary entity, but rather three segments exist: lower participants, middle management, and top command This paper will systematically describe each segment. The comparison will provide a finer analysis and discrimination of the dimensions of both occupations and afford a richer detailed exploration of policing and correctional work.

Inmate Supervisory Style

Abstract This exploratory study examines the inmate supervisory styles of women and men working as correctional officers in two medium security state prisons. In-depth interviews concerning hypothetical incidents are utilized to explore the approaches of officers toward inmates. Findings indicate that officers of both genders perceive women to have a unique style of supervision. Men officers viewed their female counterparts as less aggressive, more lenient, and too friendly with inmates. Women correctional officers see themselves as adopting a more personalized, service-oriented approach to inmates. Data from the hypothetical incidents reveals that both genders respond similarly in confrontational situations with inmates. Where differences are present, they are much different than the literature and the officers in the present study surmised. Women tended to be strict and assert their authority while male officers were more likely to talk things out with the inmate. Findings suggest that training may neutralize the influence of gender in inmate supervision. Any differences in styles may be attributed to ongoing problems with acceptance by male coworkers and the pressure felt by women correctional officers to prove themselves. Further research is needed to confirm these findings using a larger comparative sample and through direct observation of correctional officers and their interactions with inmates.

THE LAW ENFORCEMENT ROLE IN SEX OFFENDER COMMUNITY NOTIFICATION: A RESEARCH NOTE

ABSTRACT Within the last decade, Federal and state legislation has been enacted requiring notification be sent to local and county jurisdictions where high-risk sex offenders will be living upon release from prison. Police and sheriffs departments, in turn, have been given primary responsibility for notifying community residents that convicted sex offenders will be residing in their midst. One method adopted by law enforcement in dealing with this difficult task has been the interagency team approach. Police, corrections, district attorneys, and victim-witness representatives collaborate in ways that benefit the notification decision making process. This case study reports the findings from a statewide survey of 312 Wisconsin police chiefs and sheriffs, who often used interagency “notification teams.” Results indicate that decisions regarding community notification and sex offender surveillance, when arrived at through interagency collaboration, served important law enforcement objectives. These results were validated through systematic observation of law enforcement practitioners who conducted notifications, particularly through the mode of community notification meetings. This research summarizes key findings and examines their policy implications.

THE NORMATIVE CODE AMONG CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS: AN EXPLORATION OF COMPONENTS AND FUNCTIONS

ABSTRACT The past few decades have seen a tremendous growth in corrections. As more prisons are built and more correctional officers are hired, it becomes important to maintain an ongoing inquiry into the socialization, work behavior, and attitudes of the staff. This paper is an exploration of the normative code among correctional officers. Using interview data gathered from a study of two Midwestern state prisons, it explores the extent to which officers are expected to conform to certain informal norms of behavior. The functions of this code for officers is also discussed, engendering solidarity among officers, providing clarification of action and a means of modifying or rejecting formally proscribed modes of action, regulating forms of behavior, and allowing officers to make supportive and meaningfully helpful relationships based on a commonality of action and values. The context of the prison and its association with a normative code is also examined.

“Not in my backyard”: The issues and complexities surrounding prison siting

The past few decades has seen an unprecedented growth in prison construction and expansion. As a result, prison siting has become a major issue in the criminal justice system. This paper presents a siting case to illustrate the issues and complexities surrounding the locating of prisons in local communities. It discusses several approaches to siting and their consequences. In the example, an authoritarian approach was utilized, granting relative priority to official authority and imperative in siting the prison. The communitys interests and concerns were superseded by the need to build a prison. The role of the news media in defining and shaping the events and presenting a forum for the major groups to articulate their positions and concerns is also examined. The paper suggests a more collaborative approach toward community relations, such as designating a siting specialist, including community members in initial discussions, formally seeking their approval through a referendum, and continuing talks to a...