Thomas Baker
Associate Professor, University Of Central Florida
Key Findings
- Officers’ frustration facilitates both emotional and cognitive fear.
- Officers who are less educated and those that work in female facilities report lower emotional and cognitive fear.
- Non-Whites and individuals in more secure institutions reported significantly more emotional and cognitive fear of being victimized by inmates.
- By gender, female officers reported significantly higher emotional fear but there was no difference in their reports of cognitive fear.
- In males, emotional fear was facilitated by frustration in the organization, lower levels of education, and the level of security at their institution.
- Both female emotional and cognitive fear was facilitated by working in a male institution but race only impacted their cognitive fear.
Description
In the article, “Examining Correctional Officers’ Fear of Victimization by Inmates: The Influence of Fear Facilitators and Fear Inhibitors,” Baker and his co-authors examine how fear impacts correctional officers emotionally and cognitively in the workplace. Previous studies have focused on the impact of external factors (job satisfaction, safety, etc.) over demographic factors (race, gender, age, etc.) in regards to correctional officers’ fear. The researchers conducted their study by surveying approximately 800 correctional officers from 35 adult prisons in one mid-Atlantic state. The results showed that officers’ frustration facilitates both emotional and cognitive fear. Officers who are less educated and those that work in female facilities report lower emotional and cognitive fear. Non-Whites and individuals in more secure institutions reported significantly more emotional and cognitive fear of being victimized by inmates. By gender, female officers reported significantly higher emotional fear but there was no difference in their reports of cognitive fear. In males, emotional fear was facilitated by frustration in the organization, lower levels of education, and the level of security at their institution. Both female emotional and cognitive fear was facilitated by working in a male institution but officer race only impacted cognitive fear. In conclusion, the authors note that gender is an important factor in predicting both emotional and cognitive fear in correctional officers. The researchers note that administrators should develop strategies to enhance relationships among staff to support perceptions of safety.