RELATIONSHIPS
OFFICER-SUPERVISEE RELATIONSHIPS ARE IMPORTANT FOR SUCCESSFUL OUTCOMES
3 . The Role of Stress in Officer-Supervisee Relationships : A Biosocial Approach to Reducing Recidivism
The quality of officer-supervisee relationships heavily influences the success of interventions . As such , it is critical to understand the factors that hinder these relationships , and officer stress is a prime candidate . To this end , we are conducting a series of projects examining the role of officer stress in building working alliances with supervisees and how the resulting relationships impact criminal justice outcomes . Two examples are :
Stress Profiles and Officers : Integrating Biological Measures
The Role of Stress in Implementing Community Supervision Initiatives
The limited community supervision officer ( CSO ) stress research often uses subjective reports and rarely incorporates biological measures . Subjective reports of stress are informative but can suffer from recall bias and social desirability , which do not always correlate with the output of the physiological mediators of stress . This study fills this gap by describing CSOs ’ daily cortisol profile during their regular work days . Findings will shed light on the utility of incorporating such biological measures in CSO stress research .
Research Partners Frances Chen , Georgia State University ( GSU )
Despite expanding the knowledge base on “ what works ” in community supervision , we have only seen modest gains in criminal justice outcomes . Given that implementing new interventions is the responsibility of CSOs , a deeper understanding of the factors that influence their adoption of evidence-based practices is critical to the effectiveness of probation and parole . To this end , we assess whether increased stress among CSOs is associated with their likelihood of delivering the Enhanced Supervision Program ( ESP ), a researchinformed initiative for improving officer-supervisee relationships .
Research Partners Frances Chen , GSU
5