Restricted accessResearch articleFirst published online 2018-3
Educational Instructors’ Attitudes Toward Juvenile Inmates: The Effect of the Inmate’s Role in a Criminal Event and the Instructors’ Belief in a Just World
The aim of the present study was to examine factors that affect educational instructors’ attitudes toward juvenile inmates in corrective educational facilities. Educational instructors play an important role in the rehabilitation of juvenile inmates, and their attitudes may affect the adolescents’ chances of rehabilitation. We adopted an ecological perspective and explored the relationship between instructors’ belief in a just world (BJW) and the role of inmates in a criminal event (offender/victim). The study included 196 educational instructors. They answered a questionnaire on their background, BJW levels, and attitudes toward juvenile inmates. Results show that educational instructors perceived “victim” inmates as significantly more delinquent and less treatable than “offender” inmates, and that a BJW affected attitudes toward juvenile inmates. The theoretical and applied implications of these findings are discussed in this article.
AjzenI.FishbeinM. (2005). The influence of attitudes on behaviour. In AlbarracinD.JohnsonB. T.ZannaM. P. (Eds.), The handbook of attitudes (pp. 173-221). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
2.
American Psychological Association. (2009). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
3.
BanducciA. A.HoffmanE.LejuezC. W.KoenenK. C. (2014). The relationship between child abuse and negative outcomes among substance users: Psychopathology, health, and comorbidities. Addictive Behaviors, 39, 1522-1527. doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2014.05.023
4.
BegueL.BastounisM. (2003). Two spheres of belief in justice: Extensive support for the bidimensional model of belief in a just world. Journal of Personality, 71, 435-463. doi:10.1111/1467-6494.7103007
5.
Ben-DavidS.ReuvenY. (2015). Authoritarianism, ethnic affiliation, level of religiousness and authority-exercising styles of educational instructors in juvenile correctional institutions. Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice, 13(2), 87-110. doi:10.1080/15377938.2014.936644
6.
BödvarsdóttirÍ.ElklitA. (2007). Victimization and PTSD-like states in an Icelandic youth probability sample. BMC Psychiatry, 7(1), Article 51. doi:10.1186/1471-244X-7-51
7.
BohsiuW. (2000). Determinants of public opinion toward juvenile waiver decisions. Juvenile & Family Court Journal, 51, 9-20. doi:10.1111/j.1755-6988.2000.tb00014.x
8.
ButlerB.MoranG. (2007). The impact of death qualification, belief in a just world, legal authoritarianism, and locus of control on venire persons’ evaluations of aggravating and mitigating circumstances in capital trials. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 25, 57-68. doi:10.1002/bsl.734
9.
DalbertC. (2001). The justice motive as a personal resource: Dealing with challenges and critical life events. New York, NY: Kluwer Academic/Plenum.
10.
DaviesM.RogersP. (2006). Perceptions of male victims in depicted sexual assaults: A review of the literature. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 11, 367-377. doi:10.1016/j.avb.2006.01.002
11.
DavisT. L.SeveryL. J.KrausS. J.WhitakerJ. M. (1993). Predictors of sentencing decisions: The beliefs, personality variables, and demographic factors of juvenile justice. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 23, 451-477. doi:10.1111/j.1559-1816.1993.tb01098.x
12.
De ValkS.Van der HelmG. H. P.BeldM.SchaftenaarP.KuiperC.StamsG. J. J. M. (2015). Does punishment in secure residential youth care work? An overview of the evidence. Journal of Children’s Services, 10, 3-16. doi:10.1108/JCS-11-2014-0048
13.
DowdenC.AndrewsD. A. (2004). The importance of staff practice in delivering effective correctional treatment: A meta-analytic review of core correctional practice. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 48, 203-214. doi:10.1177/0306624X03257765
14.
ElklitA. (2002). Victimization and PTSD in a Danish national youth probability sample. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 41, 174-181. doi:10.1097/00004583-200202000-00011
15.
EspelageD. L.SwearerS. M. (2010). A social-ecological model for bullying prevention and intervention. In JimersonS. R.SwearerS. M.EspelageD. L.GutgsellE. W. (Eds.), Handbook of bullying in schools: An international perspective (pp. 61-72). New York, NY: Routledge.
16.
FarnumK. S.StevensonM. C. (2013). Economically disadvantaged juvenile offenders tried in adult court are perceived as less able to understand their actions, but more guilty. Psychology, Crime & Law, 19, 727-744. doi:10.1080/1068316X.2013.793766
17.
FestingerL. (1962). A theory of cognitive dissonance. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
18.
FinamoreF.CarlsonJ. M. (1987). Religiosity, belief in a just world and crime control attitudes. Psychological Reports, 61(1), 135-138. doi:10.2466/pr0.1987.61.1.135
19.
FlanneryD. J.SingerM. I.WesterK. (2001). Violence exposure, psychological trauma, and suicide risk in a community sample of dangerously violent adolescents. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 40, 435-442. doi:10.1097/00004583-200104000-00012
20.
FoxC. L.ElderT.GaterJ.JohnsonE. (2010). The association between adolescents’ beliefs in a just world and their attitudes to victims of bullying. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 80, 183-198. doi:10.1348/000709909X479105
21.
FreemanN. J. (2006). Socioeconomic status and belief in a just world: Sentencing of criminal defendants. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 36, 2379-2394. doi:10.1111/j.0021-9029.2006.00108.x
22.
FurnhamA. (2003). Belief in a just world: Research progress over the past decade. Personality and Individual Differences, 34, 795-817. doi:10.1016/S0191-8869(02)00072-7
23.
GiaconiaR. M.ReinherzH. Z.SilvermanA. B.PakizB.FrostA. K.CohenE. (1995). Traumas and posttraumatic stress disorder in a community population of older adolescents. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 34, 1369-1380. doi:10.1097/00004583-199510000-00023
24.
GordonJ. A. (1999). Do staff attitudes vary by position? A look at one juvenile correctional center. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 24, 81-93. doi:10.1007/BF02887619
25.
GreeneE.EveloA. J. (2013). Attitudes regarding life sentences for juvenile offenders. Law and Human Behavior, 37, 276-289. doi:10.1037/lhb0000031
26.
GrissoT. (2002). Using what we know about child maltreatment and delinquency. Children’s Services: Social Policy, Research, and Practice, 5, 299-305. doi:10.1207/S15326918CS0504_6
27.
HaferC. L. (2000). Do innocent victims threaten the belief in a just world? Evidence from a modified Stroop task. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79, 165-173. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.79.2.165
28.
HaferC. L.BègueL. (2005). Experimental research on just-world theory: Problems, developments, and future challenges. Psychological Bulletin, 131, 128-167. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.131.1.128
29.
JenningsW. G.PiqueroA. R.ReingleJ. M. (2012). On the overlap between victimization and offending: A review of the literature. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 17, 16-26. doi:10.1016/j.avb.2011.09.003
30.
JonesC.AronsonE. (1973). Attribution of fault to a rape victim as a function of respectability of the victim. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 26, 415-419. doi:10.1037/h0034463
31.
KerigP. K.WardR. M.VanderzeeK. L.MoeddelM. A. (2009). Posttraumatic stress as a mediator of the relationship between trauma and mental health problems among juvenile delinquents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 38, 1214-1225. doi:10.1007/s10964-008-9332-5
32.
KjelsbergE.SkoglundT. H.RustadA. B. (2007). Attitudes towards prisoners, as reported by prison inmates, prison employees and college students. BMC Public Health, 7(1), Article 71. doi:10.1186/1471-2458-7-71
33.
LernerM. J. (1980). The belief in a just world: A fundamental delusion. New York, NY: Plenum.
34.
LernerM. J.MillerD. T. (1978). Just world research and the attribution process: Looking back and ahead. Psychological Bulletin, 85, 1030-1051. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.85.5.1030
35.
LernerM. J.SimmonsC. H. (1966). Observer’s reaction to the “innocent victim”: Compassion or rejection?Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 4, 203-210. doi:10.1037/h0023562
36.
LevyI. (2007). Cognitive mechanism of blaming the victim and the bystander [Mechanism cognitivy shel hahashamat ha kurban ve ha zofe] (Unpublished master’s thesis). Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel.
37.
LevyI.Ben-DavidS. (2008). Blaming victims and bystanders in the context of rape. In RonelN.JaishankarK.BensimonM. (Eds.), Trends and issues in victimology (pp. 175-191). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
38.
MarshS. C.EvansW. P. (2006). Predictors of staff responses to problematic youth behavior in detention and correctional settings. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 44(1), 59-79. doi:10.1300/J076v44n01_04
39.
McLarenL.HaweP. (2005). Ecological perspectives in health research. Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, 59, 6-14. doi:10.1136/jech.2003.018044
40.
MearsD. P. (2001). Getting tough with juvenile offenders: Explaining support for sanctioning youths as adults. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 28, 206-226. doi:10.1177/0093854801028002004
41.
MearsD. P.HayC.GertzM.ManciniC. (2007). Public opinion and the foundation of the juvenile court. Criminology, 45, 223-257. doi:10.1111/j.1745-9125.2007.00077.x
42.
MelvinK. B.GramlingL. K.GardnerW. M. (1985). A scale to measure attitudes toward prisoners. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 12, 241-253. doi:10.1177/0093854885012002006
43.
MendonçaR. D.Gouveia-PereiraM.MirandaM. (2016). Belief in a Just World and secondary victimization: The role of adolescent deviant behavior. Personality and Individual Differences, 97, 82-87. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2016.03.021
44.
MohrP. B.LuscriG. (1995). Blame and punishment: Attitudes to juvenile and criminal offending. Psychological Reports, 77, 1091-1096. doi:10.2466/pr0.1995.77.3f.1091
45.
NajdowskiC. J.BottomsB. L. (2015). Effects of jurors’ gender and attitudes toward intellectual disability on judgments in cases involving disabled juvenile defendants. The Journal of Forensic Psychiatry & Psychology, 26, 407-424. doi:10.1080/14789949.2015.1017592
46.
O’QuinK.VoglerC. C. (1989). Effects of just world beliefs on perception of crime perpetrators and victims. Social Justice Research, 3, 47-57. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.79.2.165
47.
OropezaM. L. (2004). Early intervention and the eight percent problem: Effectively merging theories of rehabilitation and retribution in the California juvenile justice system. Whittier Law Review, 26, 1217-1237.
48.
PaolineE. A.LambertE. G. (2012). Exploring potential consequences of job involvement among jail staff. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 23, 231-253. doi:10.1177/0887403411398304
49.
PeltonenK.EllonenN.LarsenH. B.Helweg-LarsenK. (2010). Parental violence and adolescent mental health. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 19, 813-822. doi:10.1007/s00787-010-0130-8
50.
ReddingR. E.HenslK. B. (2011). Knowledgeable judges make a difference: Judicial beliefs affect juvenile court transfer decisions. Juvenile & Family Court Journal, 62(3), 15-24. doi:10.1111/j.1755-6988.2011.01063.x
51.
ReuvenY. (2007). The relationship between authoritarianism, role perception, attitudes towards inmates and authority-exercising styles among educational instructors working in juvenile correctional institutions [Ha kesher bein samhutanut, tfisat ha tafkid, ve tfisat ha hanih la bein sug hasamhut hamufal al-yadei madrich hinuhi klapei hanih be mosdot la tipul kofe bemetbagrim ovrei hok ve be mazavei sikun] (Unpublished master’s thesis). Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel.
RossM.MillerD. T. (Eds.). (2002). The justice motive in everyday life. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
54.
RossiP. H.BerkR. A. (1997). Just punishments: Federal guidelines and public views compared. New York, NY: Walter de Gruyter, Inc.
55.
RubinZ.PeplauA. (1973). Belief in a just world and reaction to another’s lot: A study of participants in the national draft lottery. Journal of Social Issues, 29, 73-93. doi:10.1111/j.1540-4560.1973.tb00104.x
56.
RubinZ.PeplauA. (1975). Who believes in a just world?Journal of Social Issues, 31(3), 65-89.
57.
SchreiberJ. B.NoraA.StageF. K.BarlowE. A.KingJ. (2006). Reporting structural equation modeling and confirmatory factor analysis results: A review. The Journal of Educational Research, 99, 323-338. doi:10.3200/JOER.99.6.323-338
58.
SebbyR. A.JohnstonL. M. (2012). Effects of victim innocence and BJW (belief in a just world) upon derogation of an ingroup/outgroup victim. Psychology Research, 2(2), 135-141.
59.
ShechoryM.IdisisY. (2006). Rape myths and social distance toward sex offenders and victims among therapists and students. Sex Roles, 54, 651-658. doi:10.1007/s11199-006-9031-1
60.
SimourdD. J.OlverM. E.BrandenburgB. (2015). Changing criminal attitudes among incarcerated offenders: Initial examination of a structured treatment program. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 60(12), 1425-1445. doi:10.1177/0306624X15579257
61.
SleathE.BullR. (2012). Comparing rape victim and perpetrator blaming in a police officer sample differences between police officers with and without special training. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 39, 646-665. doi:10.1177/0093854811434696
62.
SmithC. A.IrelandT. O.ThornberryT. P. (2005). Adolescent maltreatment and its impact on young adult antisocial behavior. Child Abuse & Neglect, 29, 1099-1119. doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2005.02.011
63.
SprottJ. B. (1999). Are members of the public tough on crime? The dimensions of public “punitiveness.”Journal of Criminal Justice, 27, 467-474. Available from www.scopus.com
64.
StimmelM. A.CruiseK. R.FordJ. D.WeissR. A. (2014). Trauma exposure, posttraumatic stress disorder symptomatology, and aggression in male juvenile offenders. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 6, 184-191. doi:10.1037/a0032509
65.
StrömwallL. A.AlfredssonH.LandströmS. (2013). Rape victim and perpetrator blame and the just world hypothesis: The influence of victim gender and age. Journal of Sexual Aggression, 19, 207-217. doi:10.1080/13552600.2012.683455
66.
SuttonR. M.WinnardE. J. (2007). Looking ahead through lenses of justice: The relevance of just-world beliefs to intentions and confidence in the future. British Journal of Social Psychology, 46, 649-666. doi:10.1348/014466606X166220
67.
TewJ.HarkinsL.DixonL. (2013). What works in reducing violent re-offending in psychopathic offenders? In CraigL.DixonL.GannonT. (Eds.), What works in offender rehabilitation: An evidence based approach to assessment and treatment (pp. 129-141). Chichester, UK: Wiley. doi:10.1002/9781118320655.ch7
68.
Valor-SeguraI.ExpósitoF.MoyaM. (2011). Victim blaming and exoneration of the perpetrator in domestic violence: The role of beliefs in a just world and ambivalent sexism. The Spanish Journal of Psychology, 14, 195-206. doi:10.5209/rev_SJOP.2011.v14.n1.17
69.
Van De MortelT. F. (2008). Faking it: Social desirability response bias in self-report research. Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing, 25, 40-48.
70.
Van den BosK.MaasM. (2009). On the psychology of the belief in a just world: Exploring experiential and rationalistic paths to victim blaming. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 35, 1567-1578. doi:10.1177/0146167209344628
71.
Van der HelmP.BoekeeI.StamsG. J.Van der LaanP. (2011). Fear is the key: Keeping the balance between flexibility and control in a Dutch youth prison. Journal of Children’s Services, 6, 248-263. doi:10.1108/17466661111190947
72.
VidalS.SkeemJ. L. (2007). Effect of psychopathy, abuse, and ethnicity on juvenile probation officers’ decision-making and supervision strategies. Law and Human Behavior, 31, 479-498. doi:10.1007/s10979-006-9077-1
73.
XieX.LiuH.GanY. (2011). Belief in a just world when encountering the 5/12 Wenchuan earthquake. Environment & Behavior, 43, 566-586. doi:10.1177/0013916510363535
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
