M.A. (Social Work) / This study analyses the aims and objectives in probation service programmes and those formulated for probation services within more comprehensive social welfare programmes. Probation services refer to all the social work services aimed at preventing crime and promoting the social welfare and functioning of the offender, his dependants and the victims of crime. A programme refers to a group of interdependent activities that focuses on achieving objectives or a set of objectives. An aim refers to, a statement that describes the long-term goal of a programme. refers to an operational describes in specific, what goals or results the a certain period of time. An objective, on the other hand, statement in a programme which observable and measurable terms programme plans to achieve within Measured against these definitions, the problem statement was formulated that the aims and objectives of probation service programmes would not meet the required standards. The point of departure was that programme formulators give inadequate attention to the components of aims and objectives. Furthermore, the general types of formulated aims and objectives were determined, as well as the preferred levels of objectives. The research included a study of the literature and archival sources and the completion of questionnaires in order to undertake an empirical investigation in which aims and objectives were evaluated and a model was drawn up for them. It is stressed that the history of probation services in the Republic of South Africa; the policy as it is laid down in the various Acts, particularly; and the formulated probation service programmes

The dramatic increase in the U.S. prison population has renewed scholarly interest in the prison experience. Researchers have built upon and extended classic theories of inmate behavior to better understand the mechanisms that lead to inmate violence and misbehavior. Yet, scholars still consider what happens to inmates inside of prison a “black box,” due to limited systematic assessments of the prison experience. This body of scholarship is also limited by its narrow focus on males, as theories of inmate behavior have been developed around male experiences and, in turn, ignore the possibility that gender may influence prison life. Feminist theory suggests that assessments of the prison experience necessitate a focus beyond a “gendered” analysis, to one that simultaneously takes in to account race and ethnicity. Theory indicates that the intersection of gender, race, and ethnicity influence the prison experience and the way in which prison staff react to behaviors of different inmate groups. Accordingly, the goal of this dissertation is to address these research gaps and to systematically examine female inmate behavior and official reactions to behavior. Specifically, this dissertation examines three domains of the prison experience. First, it examines gender and race/ethnicity-based variation in the trends and predictors of formal in-prison misconduct. Second, the dissertation explores gender and racial/ethnic differences in how prisons sanction inmate misconduct and focuses specifically on the use of disciplinary confinement, losses of gain time, and assignment to extra work duty. Third, the dissertation assesses how in-prison punishments influence future in-prison misconduct and examines whether there is gender and racial/ethnic variation in those effects. Towards this goal, this dissertation uses longitudinal data that come from the Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC), and include all inmates that entered Florida prisons between 2005 and 2011. The data are especially useful in the assessment of the female prison experience, because they include a large enough sample of female inmates of Black, White, and Hispanic background to allow for systematic empirical assessments, which are typically rare in the study of this type of population. This dissertation uses a number of different analytic techniques, including bivariate comparisons, life table analyses, multilevel logistic regression models, negative binomial regression, and multilevel survival analyses. The dissertation’s analyses identify several critical results that advance prison research, theory, and policy. First, the findings highlight that there are notable gender and racial/ethnic differences in official misconduct, which point to the possibility of behavioral differences or differential rule enforcement, or perhaps both. At the same time, this dissertation shows that prior incarceration and age are the strongest predictors of misconduct, violence, and order violations for Black, White, and Hispanic males and females. Second, this dissertation identifies disciplinary confinement as the most frequently used in-prison sanction across male and female inmates incarcerated in Florida prisons. Third, empirical assessments showed little to no deterrent effect of harsher in-prison punishments (e.g., disciplinary confinement). More broadly, the findings underscore a need for more nuanced assessments of the female prison experience, and one that can account better for officer decision making patterns. The dissertation concludes with an overview of the findings, and a discussion of theory, research, and policy implications.

D.Litt. et.Phil.

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Magister Legum - LLM / In recent years the issue of medical parole has become a controversial issue in South Africa. Prior to 2012, at which juncture the law governing the release of inmates on grounds of terminal illness was amended, there were cases where the public deemed the law inadequate and susceptible to political interference.1 There can therefore be little doubt that an amendment to the law was opportune to ensure that the release of inmates was based on legitimate medical reasons.

Previous research on the community supervision model entitled Effective Practices in Community Supervision (EPICS) focuses on the increased attention trained probation officers (POs), as opposed to non-trained POs, pay to using core correctional practices (Smith et al. 2012). While studies like this present a picture of what POs do during face-to-face interactions, there is little focus on PO perceptions of these day-to-day practices. Furthermore, still less studies center the clients on supervision in order to better understand topics such as ideal PO, ideal relationship, and perceptions of common community supervision strategies. To address these gaps, this study uses 30 semi-structured interviews with 15 POs and 15 clients either employed by or under supervision in West County in a northwest state in the U.S. Findings highlight the importance of identity verification for both PO and client. Moreover, this study highlights specific strategies used by POs seeking to balance the care and control aspects of their job. In addition, findings highlight the negative impact that grouping or labeling has on clients, while also showing the potentially positive effect addressing these fears has on the PO-client relationship.

There is a considerable amount of research demonstrating important gender differences in job satisfaction and perceived leadership style. These critical relationships have not been sufficiently explored in correctional institutions, particularly as more women are entering corrections officer positions, and low job satisfaction can lead to risky and sometimes life-threatening consequences. The purpose of this ex post facto study was to investigate the relationship between correctional officers' job satisfaction and their perception of transformational leadership style in their supervisor and to explore how the interaction between leadership style and gender affects job satisfaction. The theoretical framework of transformational leadership was used to examine the hypothesis that transformational leadership would foster overall job satisfaction. Data were collected from 86 participants from a population of 180 county jail correctional officers using the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire for leadership and the Job Diagnostic Survey for job satisfaction. A 2 x 2 ANOVA (male vs. female and transformational leadership vs. transactional leadership) was conducted. While the results were statistically non-significant, mean differences among the groups revealed an interaction effect, suggesting that women with a transformational leader have higher job satisfaction than do those with a transactional leader, while men with transactional leaders are more satisfied than are those with transformational leaders. It is suggested that future research utilize more rigorous sampling methods (e.g., stratified and cluster) to explore this potential interaction, and include qualitative interviews with officers to gain deeper insights into the meaning of leadership in the performance of these important, risk-filled jobs.

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