Managing Compliance: Types of Power in Juvenile and Adult Probation and Parole Supervision

Abstract

ABSTRACTPower is a central feature of correctional supervision, but almost no research has examined the types of power employed by probation and parole officers to encourage compliance with the conditions of supervision among people serving a community-based sentence. The current study explores this area using data from a sample of juvenile and adult probation and parole officers. Authors find that officers embrace multiple bases of power as important, that the perceived importance of power bases is highly consistent across demographic groups and levels of professional experience, and that perceptions of the importance of power predict the emphasis that officers believe should be placed on some types of supervision tasks. Authors discuss these findings in the context of modern community-based corrections.