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This study employed organizational justice theory to examine the influence of employee perceptions of distributive, procedural, and interactional justice on whether employees trust their supervisors and management. Analysis of survey results from 322 employees of a state prison located in the Southern United States indicate that procedural and interactional justice—but not distributive justice—predict employee trust in both supervisors and management. These findings present important policy implications that suggest that the employing organization would benefit from having mechanisms in place to ensure that decisions follow consistent rules and strategies. Considering the relevance of employee trust to the organization, transparency in the use of pre-determined standards to allocate resources and rewards fairly needs to become a priority in institutions of corrections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Burnout is a phenomenon commonly found in the workplace. When burnout is job-related, it is considered job burnout. Historically, job burnout has been most common among those who work in human services fields and who deal with stressful situations on a regular basis. Job burnout consists of three components: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and feelings of work ineffectiveness. While job burnout may be common, not all workers in stressful fields experience it, which indicates that there must be organizational or individual factors that limit the likelihood of job burnout for some workers. This study examined the impact of four job-related factors (job stress, job involvement, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment) on the three components of job burnout for correctional workers in a large, maximum-security prison in the Southern United States. The findings indicated that the four job-related factors were related strongly and in the predicted direction to two or three of the measures of job burnout. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current research study examined the effects of organizational justice on burnout among U.S. social workers in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. Specifically, the effects of perceptions of distributive and procedural justice on the burnout sub-domains of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization were explored (the third dimension of feeling ineffective at work was not measured). Low levels of distributive and/or procedural justice should lead to psychological strain for social workers, which can result in job burnout. Of the 450 distributed surveys, 255 usable ones were returned. Both distributive and procedural justice adversely affected the two burnout sub-domains of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization. Distributive justice had larger sized effects on emotional exhaustion compared to procedural justice. Distributive justice represents outcomes such as pay, benefit, and promotions, which tend to have a significant impact on social workers, who are often paid less than other professional occupations, resulting in psychological strain and emotional burnout. Both distributive and procedural justice had similar sized effects on depersonalization burnout. The current results underscore the need for organizational interventions by improving perceptions of distributive and procedural justice in order to reduce burnout. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fairness is a core concept in U.S. society, including in the workplace. Organizational justice theory holds that workers expect to be treated in a fair and just manner and that higher levels of organizational justice usually result in lower levels of withdrawal work behaviors, such as absenteeism and turnover intent, while lower levels of organizational justice perceptions are associated with higher engagement in withdrawal behaviors. The current study examined the relationship between organizational justice views, specifically distributive and procedural justice, and turnover intent, while controlling for the personal characteristics of age, gender, position, tenure, educational level, and marital status and the work variables of job stress and job involvement. Using the responses from 322 employees from a state prison located in the Southern region of the United States, procedural justice was observed to have a significant negative association with turnover intent, but distributive justice had a nonsignificant relationship. Job stress was associated with a significantly higher level of turnover intent, while job involvement was significantly associated with lower turnover intent. Among the personal characteristics, only age had a significant association, with older workers expressing lower turnover intent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, data were used from 322 employees at a large medium- and maximum-security prison in the Southern United States to examine the influence of job demands (dangerousness of the job, role overload, role ambiguity) and job resources (employee input into decision-making, instrumental communication, job variety) on employee job involvement. We also controlled for demographic characteristics (gender, age, position, tenure, and educational attainment). Drawing on the job demands–job resources model, four separate equations were estimated to assess the influence of job demands and job resources both separately and jointly. Overall, job resources (specifically, employee input into decision-making and job variety) have a stronger influence on job involvement than do job demands. The findings indicate that to boost employee job involvement in correctional settings, employers must implement policies and practices that facilitate the sharing of job resources in the work environment. Implications for policy and future research are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considerable empirical research has shown that work–family conflict has a negative effect on the job satisfaction and organizational commitment of United States correctional staff. This study is the first to examine the effect of work–family conflict on job satisfaction and organizational commitment for staff at Chinese prisons. Findings from ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analyses indicated that strain-based conflict, behavior-based conflict and family-on-work conflict had negative effects on the job satisfaction of Chinese prison staff. Also, strain-based conflict and behavior-based conflict had negative effects on organizational commitment. Overall, the results support the conclusion that work–family conflict was generally perceived as stressful by Chinese prison staff and negatively impacted their job satisfaction and organizational commitment, as has been found among United States staff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The death penalty is used as a criminal sanction in 58 out of 193 United Nations countries across the globe, yet the vast majority of research on capital punishment views has been conducted on Western nations, particularly the United States. This study examined the level of death penalty support among college students from both India and the United States. U.S. students expressed greater support for capital punishment compared to their Indian counterparts. In addition, men in both countries were more likely to support the death penalty. The reasons for supporting or opposing capital punishment also varied by gender and nation. Men expressed greater support for reasons of retribution, deterrence, and incapacitation, whereas women were more likely to oppose capital punishment for the reasons of rehabilitation, innocence, and morality. There were differences by nation on rationales to support or oppose capital punishment. Except for incapacitation, Indian students were more polarized in their reasons to support or oppose the death penalty. The findings support the contention that gender and culture play a role in the capital punishment views of the respondents in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The career stage theory postulates that employees go through different career stages, and each career stage has different effects on various outcomes, such as job satisfaction. There has been empirical support for the career stage theory from other disciplines, but there has been limited research relating to this theory to corrections. To expand the literature, the current study examined whether different career stages were significant predictors of job satisfactions, while including the personal characteristics and the workplace place variables among Texas correctional officers. The results supported the career state theory: job satisfaction was highest during the entry stage (0–2 years), but was lowest during the second career stage (2–5 years). In career stages three (5–15 years) and four (16+ years), job satisfaction rose. Possible interventions that correctional administrators can undertake to encourage job satisfaction from their staff during the second career stage are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study examined how personal and workplace variables were related to organizational commitment among staff working at a large Southern prison. The personal variables were gender, age, position, tenure, educational level, and supervisory status. The workplace variables were assessment of training, job variety, role clarity, input into decision-making, and instrumental communication. The results indicate workplace variables play a greater role in shaping affective commitment of surveyed Southern prison staff than do personal variables. The personal variables explained only 10% of the variance in the commitment index, while workplace factors accounted for approximately 59% of the variance and were significant determinants of organizational commitment among the respondents. In the multivariate regression analysis, age, assessment of training, job variety, role clarity, input into decision-making, and instrumental communication all had positive associations with commitment. Educational level had a negative relationship with commitment. Implications of these findings for policy and future research are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crime reporting by citizens has important implications for police effectiveness in crime control and community safety, yet research on immigrants’ willingness to report crime to the police is very limited. Relying on a purposive and convenience sample of 202 Bangladeshi immigrants from six areas in the New York City, this study examined Bangladeshi immigrants’ willingness to report crime and factors that may affect Bangladeshi immigrants’ willingness to report crime. Results showed that a great majority of the participants reported that they were willing to report crime to the police, and there was a high level of concordance between the participants’ crime-reporting intentions and behaviours. Both fear of crime and general satisfaction with the police were positively related to the Bangladeshi immigrants’ willingness to report crime. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Gender is a strong predictor of death penalty support and views in the United States, with men being more supportive and punitive than women. This exploratory study was undertaken to determine whether these same differences would be present in Japan, a nation that also imposes the death penalty. Students at a Japanese university and a U.S. university were surveyed. While the proportion of students supporting the death penalty in the United States and Japan were similar, U.S. women were less supportive and less punitive than U.S. men, while Japanese women were more likely to support the death penalty and hold more punitive views than Japanese men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, leaders in the field of criminology and criminal justice have advocated for comparative/international and collaborative research; however, there is uncertainty regarding how much comparative/international research on the topic of juvenile justice is being conducted and how well information on juvenile justice issues with a cross-cultural or international focus is being disseminated. This study analyzed the number and focus of studies on international/comparative juvenile justice papers in the four major US juvenile justice specialty journals (Juvenile & Family Court Journal, Journal of Juvenile Justice, UC Davis Journal of Juvenile Law & Policy, andYouth Violence & Juvenile Justice). Data came from 567 papers published during the period of 2000–2013. The authors discuss the roles of the juvenile justice specialty journals to encourage the study of juvenile justice internationally. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Purpose: This study compared and contrasted the views of formal and informal crime control among college students from China, Japan, and the U.S., and examined the correlates behind the views. Methods: Using the same questionnaire, this study collected data from 1,275 completed surveys in the three nations. Results: The study revealed that both Chinese and Japanese respondents evaluated formal and informal control and their combination in crime control as more important than American counterparts did. The variable trust in police was a predictor of attitudes toward formal control and the mix of formal and informal control in all the three nations. Demographics in the U.S. were more important factors than in China and Japan in predicting the respondents' ranking of the importance of formal control and informal control and their combination in crime control. Conclusions: This is the first empirically comparative study of the perceived importance of formal and informal mechanisms in crime prevention and control in China, Japan and the U.S. The study found both similarities and differences in the perceived importance and reasons behind them. More research is needed in the future. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Despite the recent burgeoning of the private prison industry, little research has focused on private prison personnel. This study attempts to help fill this research gap by examining the relationship between two distinct forms of organizational commitment, continuance and affective, and the withdrawal outcomes of absenteeism and turnover intent for personnel at a Midwestern U.S. private prison. Results of an ordinary least squares (OLS) multivariate regression analysis supported our prediction of an inverse relationship between affective organizational commitment and the withdrawal outcomes of absenteeism and turnover intent; however, contrary to our hypotheses, the analysis indicated no statistically significant relationship between continuance organizational commitment and these withdrawal outcomes, after controlling for custody position, gender, age, tenure, education, race, and supervisory status. Our results suggest that enhancing employees’ affective organizational bonds should be a priority for private correctional facilities because it has positive effects for both employees and the organization. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study examined the importance of formal and informal crime control in the United States and India. Formal crime control relies on the law and official government agencies to deter criminal actions and to respond to criminal activity. Informal crime control relies on moral and social institutions (e.g., family, peers, and neighbors) to promote lawful behavior. Using the data collected from 928 college students, the study found that the Indian and U.S. respondents differed on most of the formal and informal control measures. Overall, the Indian respondents were more likely to rank informal control as more important than were their U.S. counterparts. Although there were differences, both groups of respondents shared similar views on the importance of both forms of crime control and held that family was the most important form of crime control. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In 1972, former Supreme Court Justice Marshall postulated that the public was uninformed about the death penalty and information would change their support for it. There is some indication that information about the death penalty may change people’s level of support. This study re-examines data used by Lambert and Clarke (2001). Using multivariate analyses, the impact that information has on death penalty support is tested, along with level of prior knowledge about the death penalty, personal characteristics (gender, age, political affiliation, race, being a criminal justice major, academic level), and religious factors. The results suggest that information on both deterrence and innocence leads to a reduction in death penalty support and views on the death penalty. Furthermore, the results suggest that the information presented may have varying effects among different subgroups of people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many nations impose the death penalty, yet most of the literature on capital punishment has focused on Western nations, particularly the U.S. China and Japan are two retentionist nations. Based on the data collected in 2005, this study examined the level of death penalty support and views on capital punishment among college students from China, Japan, and the U.S. It was found that Chinese respondents reported the highest level of death penalty support, followed by Japanese and U.S. students. Respondents from China and Japan were more likely to believe in the deterrence value of capital punishment than their U.S. counterparts. Views on retribution differed among the respondents. U.S. students were most likely to feel that innocent people are sentenced to death. In multivariate analyses, deterrence was the strongest correlate of death penalty views among Chinese and Japanese respondents, followed closely by retribution. For both Chinese and Japanese students, the barbarity of government taking the life of a person was the strongest predictor for opposing the death penalty. For U.S. respondents, retribution was the strongest reason for supporting capital punishment and the barbarity of executions was the strongest reason for opposing the death penalty. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Views toward crime, criminals, punishment, and treatment are shaped by social forces, which differ across nations. Most of the research in this area has been conducted among citizens of Western nations, yet crime and responding to it is a worldwide occurrence. This study compared the crime views of Indian and U.S. college students. It was found that there were significant differences between Indian and U.S. respondents in their views toward crime, criminals, punishment, and treatment. There were mixed views on punishment and rehabilitation among both groups of students. In a multivariate analysis controlling for gender, age, academic level, and religious saliency, nation of the respondent was one of the best predictors for these views. The differences in views were attributed partly to the cultural differences between the two nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

World views, including views toward crime, criminals, punishment, and treatment, are shaped by society's social structure, culture, and the dominant political/economic paradigms. These views are known to differ widely from society to society and even within a society. This study compares the crime views of Nigerian undergraduate students with that of undergraduate students in the United States of America. Findings from this study indicate significant differences in views between Nigerian and American college students toward crime, criminals, punishment, and treatment. Interestingly, there were also mixed views on punishment and rehabilitation among Nigerian respondents, which may reflect the dichotomy of the restorative justice-based informal criminal justice system and the more punitive official criminal justice system. The differences in views regarding crime and criminality are attributed partly to the cultural differences and the level of economic and technological developments between the two countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The focus of this study is the examination of the views of Nigerian and U.S. college students regarding the death penalty and related issues. This exploratory undertaking seeks to answer three main questions. First, are there differences in the level of support of the death penalty between Nigerian and U.S. college students. The second objective of the study is to understand the reasons that the students provided for either supporting or opposing the death penalty. The third objective of this study is to account for the variance of support or opposition of the death penalty. The research findings show both similarities and differences in views regarding the death penalty between Nigerian and United States college students which we attribute to the differences between the social structure and culture of the two societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Canada and the United States have often been compared because of the perceived notion that they are very similar. Further, the effectiveness and application of crime control policies in general, and the use of capital punishment in particular, have received a great deal of attention and garnered much debate in the past decade. This study explores the views of Canadian and U.S. college students toward capital punishment. Overall, the predictors for level of death penalty support were similar for the two groups; however, U.S. respondents were much more likely to support capital punishment. Additionally, Canadian respondents were significantly less likely to support the death penalty for the reasons of retribution, deterrence, incapacitation, and the instrumental perspective (i.e., law and order), while U.S. respondents were less likely to oppose capital punishment for the reasons of morality, the brutalization effect, or the risk of executing an innocent person. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT. Since it is estimated that 2.5 to 9% of men and 1.5 to 4% of women in the U.S. population are gay or lesbian, it is very likely that social workers will encounter gay or lesbian people as clients, co-workers, and/or supervisors. The Council on Social Work Education stresses nonjudgmentalism and acceptance as important social work values and requires that undergraduate social work students be exposed to content concerning gay and lesbian persons. This study was designed to examine the differences between the views of students choosing a social work major and students choosing other majors. Generally, social work students exhibited more positive attitudes than did students in other majors, even after controlling for personal attributes such as religiosity, gender, age, race, and political affiliation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On September 11, 2001, almost 3000 people died due to terrorist attacks on U.S. soil. Almost all Americans were shocked and saddened by these attacks and agreed that those responsible must be brought to justice. However, not everyone had the same views. College students at two midwestern universities were surveyed. On 13 of 21 questions, there were significant bivariate differences between White and Nonwhite students. Generally, the differences between the two groups of students continued even in multivariate analysis after controlling for the effects of gender, age, and academic level. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Examines the impact of instrumental communication and integration on correctional staff in the U.S. Consequences of job satisfaction for correctional facilities and workers; Key antecedents of correctional staff job satisfaction; Factors which shapes the organizational commitment of correctional staff.

In the United States, institutional corrections is a major undertaking that requires substantial financial resources. Correctional staff are the essential element to ensuring the safety and security of these institutions, which house approximately 2.2 million adults. Thus, it is invaluable to explore work environment variables that contribute to their success. One area that has received scant attention is staff views of inmate medical care and their effect on job involvement and organizational commitment. This study focused on the effects of views concerning the proper handling of inmate infectious diseases, the quality of medical care provided to inmates, the timeliness of the responses to inmate medical needs, turnover of medical staff, and inmate medical privacy rights. Results indicate that proper handling of inmate infectious diseases and quality of medical care positively increase job involvement and organizational commitment.

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.