ABSTRACT

A large body of literature has examined the impact of staff behavior in correctional settings on offenders’ likelihood of recidivism. However, gaps remain with respect to how staff behavior is related to other indicators of post-release success, including an individual’s perception of success upon release. In this study, we examine how correctional staff behavior is related to perceptions of success at staying out of trouble with the law and at succeeding in ordinary life goals among a sample of 679 serious juvenile offenders. Using data from Pathways to Desistance, our results show that while negative staff behavior was not significantly related to perceptions of success, fairness by staff was significantly related to individuals’ perceptions of success in both domains. Thus, those who perceived staff – and by extension the institution – as unfair were less likely to believe they would stay out of trouble with the law and succeed in life. These findings provide evidence that institutional climate is related to re-entry and policy efforts aimed at improving procedural fairness within correctional institutions are needed.

摘要

大量文献研究了工作人员在惩教场所的行为对罪犯累犯可能性的影响。但是，在员工行为与释放后成功的其他指标（包括个人释放后的成功感）如何相关方面仍然存在差距。在这项研究中，我们研究了679名严重少年犯样本中惩教人员的行为与成功摆脱法律纠缠和成功实现普通生活目标的看法之间的关系。使用来自“通往疾病的途径”的数据，我们的结果表明，虽然员工消极行为与成功感没有显着相关，但员工的公平性在两个方面都与个人对成功的认知显着相关。因此，那些认为员工以及整个机构不公平的人不太可能相信自己不会触犯法律，过上成功的生活。这些发现提供了证据，表明机构氛围与重新进入有关，需要采取旨在改善惩教机构内部程序公正性的政策措施。