ABSTRACT
Since the overall goal of my research was to explore the day-to-day attitudes and behaviors of correction officers, I hoped that I could do so during a period of relative institutional “normalcy.” Having observed correction officer behavior and attitudes both during contract negotiations and before and after incidents of large-scale violence, I felt that the occurrence of either situation during the interview period would distract the officers from their everyday work world and thus contaminate the nature of their responses. Luckily 1976 was not a contractnegotiation year, thus avoiding an increase in the saliency of contract-related issues in the minds of officers. Although prison riots were beyond my control, I was fortunate that 1976 saw no major incidents at Auburn or any other of New York State’s correctional institutions. 1 was thus able to study prison guards during a time when officers had to contend only with those situations they “normally” encountered in their work.
