Understanding Parole Officers’ Responses to Sanctioning Reform

There are constant calls for reform in the criminal justice system, but observers have often reported that criminal justice reform is an exceptionally challenging task. As with any organizational change, resistance to new policies, procedures, and practices comes from a variety of sources. The relat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Crime and delinquency 2011-03, Vol.57 (2), p.222-246
Main Authors: Steiner, Benjamin, Travis, Lawrence F., Makarios, Matthew D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Authority
Caseworkers
Change Strategies
Collegiality
Correctional Personnel
Correctional System
Criminal Justice
Criminals
Discipline
Discretion
Educational Attainment
Employment Level
Employment Qualifications
Gender Differences
Government agencies
Individual Characteristics
Intention
Justice
Law reform
Ohio
Organizational Change
Parole
Parole officers
Police
Predictor Variables
Racial Differences
Reform
Reforms
Resistance
Resistance to Change
Sanctions
Satisfaction
Sexual Abuse
Social perception
Speech
Supervisors
Surveys
U.S.A
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Summary:There are constant calls for reform in the criminal justice system, but observers have often reported that criminal justice reform is an exceptionally challenging task. As with any organizational change, resistance to new policies, procedures, and practices comes from a variety of sources. The relatively broad discretionary authority vested in line-level personnel often contributes to the difficulty associated with implementing change in criminal justice agencies. There is ample evidence that line staff resistance to organizational reform can undermine the implementation of organizational change. In this study, the authors examine the effects of the state of Ohio’s transition to graduated sanctioning guidelines on parole officers—in particular, how these reforms were perceived by the key actors in the sanctioning process: parole officers. Findings from a statewide survey revealed that officers were generally dissatisfied with the restrictions on their discretion resulting from the reform. Analyses revealed that organizational factors such as officers’ perceptions concerning how the sanctioning policy was implemented and its intended purposes were more influential than individual characteristics in shaping officers’ views concerning the efficacy of the reform.
ISSN:0011-1287
1552-387X
DOI:10.1177/0011128709343141