Saad Marina K, Rivera Luis M, Veysey Bonita M
Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Fairleigh Dickinson University, Hackensack, NJ, United States.
School of Criminal Justice, Rutgers University-Newark, Newark, NJ, United States.
Front Psychol. 2022 Jul 28;13:787583. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.787583. eCollection 2022.
Parole officers are one of many actors in the legal system charged with interpreting and enforcing the law. Officers not only assure that parolees under their supervision comply with the terms of their release, but also monitor and control parolees' criminal behavior. They conduct their jobs through their understanding of their official mandate and make considered and deliberate choices while executing that mandate. However, their experiences as legal actors may impact their implicit cognitions about parolees. This experiment is the first of its kind to examine implicit (i.e., automatic) associations between the self and parolees among actors of the legal system.
The present study examines the implicit cognitive consequences of the quality of the parole officer-parolee relationship from the perspective of the parole officer; specifically, whether parole officers who are reminded of positive experiences with parolees implicitly associate more with the group parolees than those reminded of a negative experience. In addition, we explore the moderating effects of parole officers' subjective professional orientation and identification.
Eighty-four New Jersey parole officers participated in the study. First, an experimental manipulation of either a past positive or negative experience was administered a writing task. Participants then completed an Implicit Association Test (IAT) to measure associations between the self-concept of parole officers with parolees who are part of the group criminal, followed by measures of professional orientation and identification.
Participants who were reminded of a positive experience with a parolee exhibited stronger associations between self and the group parolee when compared to those who were reminded of a negative experience. Neither professional orientation nor parole officer group identification were related to implicit associations and did not moderate the effect of the past experience reminder on implicit associations.
Implicit cognitions of parole officers may influence their behaviors and interactions with those whom they supervise. Positive reminders affect implicit self-associations with parolees presumably empathy, which is known to affect the quality of therapeutic and supervision relationships; thus, theoretically, leading to improved outcomes for both officers and parolees.
假释官是法律系统中众多负责解释和执行法律的人员之一。假释官不仅要确保其监管下的假释人员遵守假释条款，还要监控和控制假释人员的犯罪行为。他们通过对官方职责的理解来开展工作，并在执行该职责时做出深思熟虑的选择。然而，他们作为法律行为者的经历可能会影响他们对假释人员的隐性认知。本实验是同类研究中首个考察法律系统行为者自身与假释人员之间隐性（即自动）关联的实验。
本研究从假释官的角度考察假释官与假释人员关系质量的隐性认知后果；具体而言，与被提醒有负面经历的假释官相比，被提醒有与假释人员的积极经历的假释官是否会在隐性层面上更多地将自己与假释人员群体联系起来。此外，我们还探讨了假释官主观职业取向和认同感的调节作用。
84名新泽西州的假释官参与了该研究。首先，通过一项写作任务对过去的积极或消极经历进行实验性操纵。参与者随后完成一项内隐联想测验（IAT），以测量假释官的自我概念与属于犯罪群体的假释人员之间的关联，随后进行职业取向和认同感的测量。
与被提醒有负面经历的参与者相比，被提醒有与假释人员的积极经历的参与者在自我与假释人员群体之间表现出更强的关联。职业取向和假释官群体认同感均与隐性关联无关，也未调节过去经历提醒对隐性关联的影响。
假释官的隐性认知可能会影响他们与所监管人员的行为和互动。积极的提醒可能会影响假释官对假释人员的隐性自我关联，大概是通过同理心，而同理心已知会影响治疗和监管关系的质量；因此，从理论上讲，会为假释官和假释人员带来更好的结果。
