Attitudinal Perspectives of Correctional Officers Towards Individuals that commited crimes: A Comparative Investigation of General and Sexual Offenses in Portugal

• In Event: Police officers’ attitudes and work experience: comparing countries

Abstract

Prison guards' attitudes have an impact on offenders' rehabilitation, due to the closeness between both groups. The present study intends to investigate prison guards’ attitudes towards individuals that committed general offences (ICGO) and individuals that committed sex offences (ICSO), and to verify if there are differences regarding both groups. The study also intends to understand if sociodemographic and personality variables are related to attitudes towards ICSO. Thus, the Attitudes Towards Offenders Scale, the Attitudes Towards Sex Offenders Scale – 21 and the NEO Five-Factor Inventory were administered to a sample of 90 prison guards. The findings indicated that prison guards generally hold neutral attitudes, albeit leaning towards the negative, and that there are differences between attitudes towards ICSO and ICGO, being more negative regarding to ICSO. Differences were also found in attitudes towards ICSO according to sociodemographic variables, as well as statistically significant correlations between the Agreeableness dimension and the attitudes towards offenders in general, and between the Agreeableness and Conscientiousness dimensions and the attitudes towards ICSO. These results highlight the importance of a careful and in-depth analysis of prison guards’ recruitment process, as well as the need for continuous and frequent training for these professionals that assume the first line of the resocialization of individuals that committed crimes.

Author

• Andreia Castro-Rodrigues, ISPA - Instituto Universitário