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The Prison Journal
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Social Distance and Discretionary Rule Enforcement in a Women's Prison

Robert M. Freeman

Shippensburg University

The relationship between correctional officer attitudes toward inmates and official reporting of major and minor institutional rule violations is examined. Factor analysis of correctional officer responses to the Klofas-Toch Measure of Professional Orientation produced two dimensions of officer attitude toward inmates: Human Service Orientation (HSO) and Social Distance (SD). HSO reflects belief in rehabilitation activities. SD reflects the preference for adopting a personal, informal, supervisory relationship with inmates. SD was the only dimension that predicted rule violation reporting. Officers who preferred high SD filed a higher number of minor misconduct reports than officers who preferred low SD. Neither dimension predicted the filing of major misconduct reports. Race and gender did not predict rule violation reporting. The relationship between officer education and preference for SD was unexpected, as was the relationship between years of service and SD. Inmate responses to discretionary rule enforcement might be negative. The influence of SD in rule violation reporting should be included in correctional training curricula.

Key Words: discretion • rule violations • rule enforcement • women's prison • social distance • correctional officer attitudes

The Prison Journal, Vol. 83, No. 2, 191-205 (2003)
DOI: 10.1177/0032885503083002005
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D. M. Daggett and S. D. Camp
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[Abstract] [PDF]