NCJ Number
98516
Date Published
Unknown
Length
22 pages
Annotation
The efficiency of the selection process for personnel in correctional administration is reviewed, with an emphasis on written tests and personal interviews.
Abstract
Law enforcement agencies of police departments, correctional institutions, and private corporations in major cities were surveyed in the summer and fall of 1979, and results were compared to studies conducted in 1964 and 1971. The 1971 study conducted updated the earlier studies dealing with selection methods of officer candidates and the weight of emphasis given to certain techniques in the selection process. The results of the earlier studies had shown that written tests were the predominant instrument in the weight of selection. The present effort is to bring the selection process up to date as to the changes in techniques of determining the most qualified officers. Private security personnel were added to the evaluations. It was found that police departments still retain about the same degree of written testing over interviews in selecting their officers. The corrections officer selection process has reduced the emphasis on testing in favor of interviews, arriving at an equality for each. Private industry has increased its reliance on tests although it still uses interviews predominantly. Private security, not covered in earlier studies, today emphasizes references of and interviews, with very little testing in the selection of officers. The present evaluations of selection procedures were meant to draw attention to the differences between the private sectors and public agencies in hiring candidates. Eighteen reference notes are provided. (Author abstract modified)