The study investigates prison guards' beliefs concerning the prison, the prisoners, and their own. role and the relationships between these beliefs and other variables. Subjects came from four maximum security Israeli prisons (N = 370). Generally, guards' beliefs ate less punitive than could be expected from previous literature. A considerable variance in guards' beliefs is revealed. Three independent factors emerge from a factor analysis: belief in the rehabilitation potential of prisoners, belief in the rehabilitative potential of the prison, and belief in the guard's supportive role. The relationships between these beliefs and background and work-related variables are examined and discussed.
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