The State Correction Officer as Keeper and Counselor: An Empirical Investigation of the Role

Authors

Robert B. Blair, College of Wooster
Clifford M. Black, North Texas State University
Henry J. Long, Elizabethtown College

Abstract

This paper addresses two essential research needs in criminal justice literature: (1) the need for an assessment of the content of the role of block officer; and (2) the need for an empirical test of the presumed irreconcilable goals of custody and treatment as these are embedded in the role of state correction officer. A Task Inventory approach was adapted and a random sample of 100 correction officers in four heterogeneous state institutions were interviewed. Results of the study reveal that custodial staff spend at least sixty-percent of their on-job time performing duties not classified as security in nature. Results of the study challenge many of the existing stereotypes of correction officers in the literature. *The

Recommended Citation

Blair, Robert B.; Black, Clifford M.; and Long, Henry J. (1981) "The State Correction Officer as Keeper and Counselor: An Empirical Investigation of the Role," The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare: Vol. 8: Iss. 4, Article 14.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15453/0191-5096.1595
Available at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jssw/vol8/iss4/14