Goodbye to a Worn-Out Dichotomy: Law Enforcement, Social Work, and a Balanced Approach (A Survey of Federal Probation Officer Attitudes)

Previous Research Officer Attitudes In the past, probation and parole officer attitudes have typically been investigated as they relate to role orientation (Glaser, 1969; Klockars, 1972; Ohlin, Piven, and Papenfort 1956; O'Leary and Duffee, 1971; and Rowan, 1956), role conflict (Clear and Latessa, 1993; Erwin and Bennett, 1987; Hardyman, 1988; and McCleary, 1978), goal orientation (Ross and Johnson, 1997), job stress (Whitehead and Lindquist, 1989), sources of role orientation (Clear and Latessa, 1993; Sluder and Reddington, 1993), and attitudes towards use and carrying of weapons (Sluder, Shearer, and Potts, 1991).\n Additionally, deputy chiefs and chiefs score a bit higher on the survey than do the other respondents, indicating more of a social work orientation. [...] these results are consistent with recent survey data from offenders (see Offender Survey article, this issue of Federal Probation), in which offenders had very favorable impressions of their officers, with 94 percent describing their officers as "firm but fair."