NCJ Number
12328
Date Published
1973
Length
182 pages
Annotation
AN EVALUATION OF OHIO'S USE OF EX-OFFENDERS AS PAROLE OFFICER AIDES.
Abstract
THIRTEEN AIDES WERE ORIGINALLY HIRED TO PERFORM TASKS SIMILAR TO THOSE OF A PAROLE OFFICER. THEIR PERFORMANCE IN COMPARISON TO A CONTROL GROUP OF OHIO PAROLE OFFICERS WAS ASSESSED USING SEVERAL TECHNIQUES - AN ATTITUDINAL QUESTIONNAIRE, IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS, FIELD WORKER'S REPORTS, UNIT SUPERVISORS RATINGS, A SURVEY OF INMATES, AND A SURVEY OF PAROLEES SUPERVISED BY AIDES AND PAROLE OFFICERS. THE RESULTS FROM THE ANALYSIS OF THE ATTITUDINAL QUESTIONNAIRE INDICATE AIDES POSSESS THOSE ORIENTATIONS AND ATTITUDES ASSOCIATED WITH SUCCESSFUL SOCIAL SERVICE WORKERS MORE OFTEN THAN DO PAROLE OFFICERS. THE IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS FOUND AIDES VERY SATISFIED WITH THEIR WORK. THE FIELD WORK REPORTS BY STUDENTS INDICATED PAROLE OFFICERS SAW MORE PAROLEES PER DAY AND SPENT A GREATER PERCENTAGE OF THEIR WORK TIME WITH PAROLEES THAN DID AIDES. HOWEVER, FIELD WORKERS EVALUATED AIDES AS HAVING A BETTER RELATIONSHIP WITH BOTH PAROLEES AND FELLOW WORKERS. UNIT PAROLE SUPERVISORS RATED PAROLE OFFICERS AND AIDES ON SEVERAL DIMENSIONS, INDICATING THAT IN MOST RESPECTS PAROLE OFFICERS WERE SUPERIOR TO AIDES. THE ONLY TWO CRITERIA ON WHICH SUPERVISORS RATED AIDES SUPERIOR WERE GETTING JOBS FOR PAROLEES AND BEING WILLING TO 'GO THE EXTRA MILE' TO HELP PAROLEES. INMATES AND PAROLEES RATED AIDES SUPERIOR TO PAROLE OFFICERS ON EVERY INDICATOR. THE MAJORITY OF INMATES FELT PAROLEES SUPERVISED BY AN AIDE WOULD BE MORE LIKELY TO SUCCEED ON PAROLE. AN OVERWHELMING MAJORITY OF INMATES (86 PERCENT) INDICATED THEY WOULD PREFER BEING SUPERVISED ON PAROLE BY AN AIDE RATHER THAN A PAROLE OFFICER. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED) (SNI ABSTRACT)