The Association between Perceptions of Distributive Justice and Procedural Justice with Support of Treatment and Support of Punishment among Correctional Staff

Previous literature exploring the relationship between correctional officer orientations toward treatment and punishment is inconsistent at best. One rarely studied aspect is the influence of distributive and procedural justice on correctional staff support for treatment and punishment. For this study, ordinary least squares regression analysis of survey responses from 272 correctional officers revealed that distributive justice did not impact support for treatment or punishment. Procedural justice, however, was positively associated with support for treatment and negatively associated with support for punishment. Overall, the results of this study suggest further research in this area is needed. (Contains 2 tables and 1 note.)