Shanhe Jiang

Inmate Misconduct: A Test of the Deprivation, Importation, and Situational Models

This article examines the effectiveness of three theoretical models (deprivation, importation, and situational) in explaining violent incidents, incidents against correctional staff, and incidents against other inmates in prison. Based on a sample of 431 disciplinary reports from a mens state prison in the deep South, the authors have found all three models help explain violent incidents. The deprivation and situational models help explain incidents against correctional staff. The situational and importation models contribute to explanations of incidents against other inmates. With regard to the relative power of each theoretical model in explaining inmate misconduct in prison, the situational model is the most powerful based on the total chi-square change of the model. According to the average of chi-square change per variable in each model, however, the deprivation model is the most powerful and the situational is the least in explaining violent incidents and incidents against correctional staff.

Exploring antecedents of five types of organizational commitment among correctional staff: It matters what you measure

Correctional staff are the backbone of any correctional organization, and building organizational commitment among employees is critical for an effective organization. Although there is a small but growing body of literature on the antecedents and consequences of organizational commitment, there has been little discussion on the various types and levels of commitment and whether results differ depending on the form of commitment being measured. This study reviewed the three major types (i.e., affective, moral, and continuance) and two levels (i.e., agency and institutional) of organizational commitment. Multivariate analysis of survey results from 272 staff at a high-security prison in the Midwest revealed that the effects of the major forms of organizational structure (i.e., input into decision making, job autonomy, promotional opportunities, institutional communication, and organizational fairness) and job stress varied considerably depending on which form of organizational commitment was measured.

Youthful Suicide and Social Support Exploring the Social Dynamics of Suicide-Related Behavior and Attitudes Within a National Sample of US Adolescents

Since the late-nineteenth century, scholars have investigated how structural elements within a community—what is now called social support—relate to suicide. However, social support has rarely been used to study adolescent suicide, particularly within a nationally representative sample. The current study, using the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health (Add Health), explores the ties between social support mechanisms and adolescent expressions of suicide ideation and suicide attempts. Using the 2-level hierarchical generalized linear modeling (HGLM) technique, the current study found that such phenomena can be understood in terms of social support and certain individual factors, some common to both ideation and attempts, others unique to one or the other. Moreover, suicide ideation and attempts were linked to the risk-taking behaviors of the youths, their friends, and their family members. Feeling safe at school was one of the most consistent protective factors included in the study.

Is the job burning me out? An exploratory test of the job characteristics model on the emotional burnout of prison staff

Although emotional burnout of prison staff is costly to all involved, it has not received the kind of research attention that is warranted. This exploratory study focused on the impact of job characteristics on the emotional exhaustion dimension of burnout of prison staff. Using data from 272 staff members at a Midwestern state prison, this study found that both job feedback and job autonomy had negative effects on the index of emotional exhaustion burnout; however, both supervision and job variety had nonsignificant effects. The study further discussed possible reasons for both the significant and nonsignificant relationships.

Social support and inmate rule violations: A multilevel analysis

Social support theory is important in explaining inmate behavior within prison but has been largely ignored in the research. Using multilevel analysis, the study examined the effect of social support on inmate misconduct measured by disciplinary infractions in the 1997 Survey of Inmates of State Correctional Facilities in the United Slates. Findings indicate that several social support variables at both the inmate level and prison level affect inmate rule violations per month.

Capital Punishment Views in China and the United States A Preliminary Study Among College Students

There is a lack of research on attitudes toward capital punishment in China, and there is even less research on cross-national comparisons of capital punishment views. Using data recently collected from college students in the United States and China, this study finds that U.S. and Chinese students have differences in their views on the death penalty and its functions of deterrence, rehabilitation, and incapacitation. This study also reveals that the respondents’ perspectives of deterrence, rehabilitation, retribution, and incapacitation all affect their attitudes toward the death penalty in the United States, whereas only the first three views affect attitudes toward capital punishment in China. Furthermore, retribution is the strongest predictor in the United States, whereas deterrence is the strongest predictor in China.

Examining the Relationship Between Supervisor and Management Trust and Job Burnout Among Correctional Staff

Trust is a valued resource of any organization and is a necessary component of a positive, healthy work environment. In corrections, the work environment is critical to ensure the safety and security of staff, inmates, and the community. The demands of correctional work can lead to job burnout, which has been linked to psychological and physical health problems, decreased work productivity, increased absenteeism, and heightened turnover intent and turnover. Thus, it is paramount for corrections to find methods that can alleviate job burnout effectively. Three types of burnout have been identified in the literature: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and a feeling of ineffectiveness. This study explored whether correctional staff trust in supervisors and management reduced burnout. Six hypotheses were proposed examining the three types of burnout and the two levels of trust. Results indicate that levels of burnout were lower when workers trusted their supervisors and management in five of the six hypotheses proposed.

A Preliminary Examination of the Relationship between Organisational Structure and Emotional Burnout among Correctional Staff

In any nation, correctional staff are the greatest asset of any correctional facility. In an era where rising costs, shrinking budgets, and personnel shortages are common, it is increasingly important to provide a positive work environment to ensure worker stability. The research indicates that job burnout is a negative response that is influenced by the work environment. This study examined the effects of organisational structure on emotional burnout among correctional staff at a state-run prison. Promotional opportunity, integration, formalisation, instrumental communication, and input into decision making are the major forms of organisational structure. In addition to the above forms of organisational structure, the amount of daily contact and the personal characteristics of tenure, position, educational level, race, age, gender, and supervisory status were included as independent variables. In a multivariate analysis, supervisory status, degree of inmate contact, promotional opportunity, formalisation, instrumental communication, and input into decision making all had statistically significant associations with emotional burnout. The results support the postulation that organisational structure influences the emotional burnout of correctional staff.

Multicollinearity in hierarchical linear models

This study investigates an ill-posed problem (multicollinearity) in Hierarchical Linear Models from both the data and the model perspectives. We propose an intuitive, effective approach to diagnosing the presence of multicollinearity and its remedies in this class of models. A simulation study demonstrates the impacts of multicollinearity on coefficient estimates, associated standard errors, and variance components at various levels of multicollinearity for finite sample sizes typical in social science studies. We further investigate the role multicollinearity plays at each level for estimation of coefficient parameters in terms of shrinkage. Based on these analyses, we recommend a top-down method for assessing multicollinearity in HLMs that first examines the contextual predictors (Level-2 in a two-level model) and then the individual predictors (Level-1) and uses the results for data collection, research problem redefinition, model re-specification, variable selection and estimation of a final model.

A further examination of antecedents of correctional staff life satisfaction

Abstract Working in corrections is not only a demanding job, but a socially important one. While a growing number of studies have examined how the work environment impacts the job stress, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment of staff, very few studies have examined how working in corrections impacts the life satisfaction of workers. The current study utilized OLS regression to examine the antecedents of life satisfaction among staff at a Midwestern private prison. Job satisfaction had a positive relationship with life satisfaction, while age, work on family conflict, family on work conflict, and job involvement all had statistically significant negative effects. Finally, perceptions of the level of financial rewards, job stress, organizational commitment, gender, race, educational level, tenure, supervisory status, position, marital status, and having children, all had non-significant associations with overall satisfaction with life.