Perceptions of Female Officers Engaging in Romantic Relationships with an Inmate

• Main Author: Gutierrez, Brianna Rose
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses 01.01.2020
• Subjects: Criminology; Gender studies; Social psychology
• ISBN: 9798691262340

This project aimed to study the perceptions of criminal justice college students on the likelihood that female officers would engage in a romantic relationship with an inmate. A 3 (marital status: divorced, married, and single) × 3 (behavior type: commenting on physical appearance, divulging personal information, and gift-giving) factorial analysis of variance was conducted to examine perceptions that the officer would engage in a romantic relationship with the male inmate. Results revealed a between-subjects effect for perceptions of behavior type on the likelihood that a female officer would engage in a romantic relationship with an inmate. In a multiple comparisons test, Bonferroni revealed a mean difference for behavior type, but only between the divulging of personal information and gift-giving conditions. It was perceived that female officers who engaged in gift-giving were more likely to participate in a romantic relationship with a male inmate than female officers who divulged personal information. No main effect was found for marital status. No interaction effect was found for marital status and behavior type. Results are discussed in light of the existing empirical literature.