Ruth Triplett

Work-related stress and coping among correctional officers: Implications from organizational literature

Abstract Using self-report data from a sample of correctional officers at a medium security prison, this article examines two questions. First, are there similarities in the particular sources of stress for correctional officers and those described in the organizational literature as sources of stress among employees of other organizations? Second, given the particular sources of stress identified, what are the most effective coping mechanisms utilized by correctional officers? The analysis reveals that correctional officers experience many of the same organizational level stressors as those identified within the broader occupational literature, as well as those unique to their profession. Additionally, correctional officers appear to utilize personal coping mechanisms for successfully reducing overall levels of job stress. Those same coping mechanisms, however, do not appear to mediate the effects of organizational sources of stress. The findings support the inclusion of the broader occupational literature on stress and coping in correctional officer stress research. Additionally, the findings suggest the need for administrators of correctional facilities to develop resources to assist officers in dealing with stress.

Growing Up Poor: Examining the Link Between Persistent Childhood Poverty and Delinquency

Findings from aggregate-level and ethnographic research suggest that poverty and delinquency are related. The inability of individual-level quantitative research to demonstrate consistent evidence of this relationship, however, has been used to call into question whether poverty is indeed related to an increased propensity for delinquent involvement. This may be due to the difficulty individual-level analyses have in identifying the group most important in uncovering the relationship of poverty to delinquency—those individuals that experience persistent childhood poverty. This paper provides an assessment of the effects of both the level of exposure to poverty and its timing on delinquent involvement using fourteen years of longitudinal data for a national sample of younger adolescents. Findings indicate that exposure to poverty and the timing of such exposure are indeed related to an increased likelihood of involvement in delinquency.

Institutional Strength, Social Control and Neighborhood Crime Rates:

While the systemic model that todays theories of social disorganization are based on acknowledges that neighborhood-based institutions may vary in their ability to contribute to effective social control, relatively little attention has been given to their role in understanding neighborhood rates of crime. At the same time, there is contradictory evidence about the role of social networks, which have been the focus of much research attention. This article builds upon past work to present a model of neighborhood-based institutional social control to address this lack of attention. The model centers on a conceptualization of institutional strength that distinguishes between the dimensions of institutional strength, and the causes and effects of variation in institutional strength.

Examining the effect of work-home conflict on work-related stress among correctional officers

The purpose of this study was to explore two questions: (1) What is the contribution of work-home conflict to work-related stress among correctional officers? and (2) What role does gender play in understanding the contribution of work-home conflict to work-related stress among correctional officers? The findings supported the prediction that work-home conflict is an important contributor to work-related stress for females. The analysis, though tentative, also suggested that males experience work-home conflict but experience its effect at home, rather than work.

Evaluating contextual patterns of delinquency: Gender-based differences

Prior criminological research on gender-based differences in offending has focused on comparisons of offense frequency and offending patterns. Such research has shown that males offend more frequently than females, but has failed to clarify the distinctiveness of the patterns or the context of that offending. This study analyzes the distinctive context of gender-based offending patterns. The analysis is accomplished by examining differences in offense patterns across specific types of crime. Using data from the National Youth Survey, the authors analyze the offending patterns of 1,543 youths for offenses ranging from truancy to serious assault. The findings of this study show that the more serious the offense, the greater the differences by gender in the context of offending. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

SOCIAL DISORGANIZATION, LEGITIMACY OF LOCAL INSTITUTIONS AND NEIGHBORHOOD CRIME: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF PERCEPTIONS OF THE POLICE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

ABSTRACT Despite a tendency in the past to emphasize the role of social networks in understanding neighborhood rates of social control and crime, recent work in social disorganization has begun to theorize about the role of institutions. In particular, in his 2002 presidential address Sampson (2002) argued that perceptions of institutions as legitimate are particularly important in shaping neighborhood levels of collective efficacy. In addition, Triplett, Gainey and Sun (2003) have argued that institutional strength is an important predictor of neighborhood crime rates. Within this framework, they predict that institutional strength is predictive of perceptions of public institutions as legitimate which in turn are predicted to affect neighborhood rates of crime. The purpose of this study is to provide an initial empirical assessment of the role of perceptions of two institutions - the police and local government - as legitimate on neighborhood rates of crime. Findings support the prediction that these perceptions are important and suggest the need for further research.

Theoretical and empirical specification of a model of informal labeling.

Recently criminologists have begun to explore the importance of disaggregating frequency measures of self-reported delinquency into the separate decisions of initiation and continuation. Given that labeling makes predictions concerning continuation, the purpose of this paper is twofold. The first is to test the ability of an informal labeling model to predict the decision to continue delinquent behavior once it is initiated. The second purpose is to address the broader question of whether disaggregation matters. The findings support the idea that the informal labeling model is predictive of the decision to continue delinquent behavior. The findings also suggest that, at least for a measure of general delinquency, there are some differences to be found by choosing the appropriate sample and form of the dependent variable.

Social Control in a School Setting: Evaluating a School-Based Boot Camp

In the past few years, several dramatic incidents have spurred renewed efforts to control violence and prevent crime in schools. Although it has yet to become a matter of much public discussion, what is particularly notable about many of these efforts is the increased collaboration of criminal and juvenile justice agencies with schools in their capacity as formal agents of control. In the present study, the authors evaluate one program that embodies this type of collaboration—Specialized Treatment and Rehabilitation (STAR). STAR is an innovative juvenile boot camp program in a public school setting that is operated through the combined efforts of the school, the juvenile court, and the juvenile probation department. Results of the evaluation revealed that although the program had a relatively small impact on recidivism, perceptions garnered from parents, teachers, and STAR participants were quite favorable for the program overall.

Specifying the Gender-Class-Delinquency Relationship: Exploring the Effects of Educational Expectations

Traditionally, research on the class-crime relationship has ignored gender, while much of the past research on the gender-delinquency relationship has ignored class. Both feminist criminologists and social psychologists, such as House (1981), suggest that analyses of class and gender should involve the examination of how these factors shape individual lives. In this paper we explore the role of educational expectations as one factor shaped by both class and gender. We consider three issues. First, is social class significantly related to female, as well as male, delinquency? Second, does social class shape educational expectations and do they, in turn, enhance the likelihood of delinquent involvement? Third, are there differences by gender in the ways that social class conditions educational expectations? The findings suggest that gender and class are both important factors shaping educational expectations and through them, delinquency.

Alcohol Outlets and Neighborhood Crime: A Longitudinal Analysis

This article examines the relationship between the number of alcohol outlets in block groups and the number of incidents of street crimes in Norfolk, Virginia. Cross-sectional and longitudinal panel designs are used to explore the relationship. Results were corrected for spatial autocorrelation and controlled for variation in size of population, socioeconomic disadvantage, and a dummy variable for being the downtown area. The cross-sectional analysis revealed a strong relationship between the number of alcohol outlets and the number of street crimes for on-premises and off-premises outlets. A panel design was then used to examine the effects of newly established outlets on the change in the number of street crime events over three periods. All three panels showed significant relationships between the number of alcohol outlets and the number of street crime events controlling for prior levels of crime, socioeconomic disadvantage, population size, and a spatial lag.