Perceptions of Procedural Justice Among Incarcerated Youth and Correctional Officers: Concordant Or Discordant Views?

• In Event: Perceptions, Procedural Justice and the Cost of Corrections

Abstract

A safe and secure prison environment is essential to protect correctional staff and permit meaningful engagement in treatment, particularly among incarcerated youth. Threats to procedural justice and perceptions of legitimacy in a correctional environmental can undermine the security of a facility, as inmates may be less likely to obey the rules and the power holders (correctional officers). Thus, procedural justice in prison environments is critical and several studies find that it increases the safety and order within prisons more so than direct and indirect force. However, no studies have examined the dual nature of legitimacy within a prison setting, or whether the power holder and the inmate subject to them view interactions similarly with regard to procedural justice. This study fills that gap by examining whether incarcerated youth and their power holders (correctional officers) have similar or discordant perceptions of procedural justice within 34 distinct correctional facilities.

Authors

• Calli M. Cain, University of Nebraska at Omaha

• Gaylene S. Armstrong, University of Nebraska at Omaha