work and occupations 1981 mckeon 353 80

8/13/2019 Work and Occupations 1981 McKeon 353 80

1/29

http://wox.sagepub.com/Work and Occupations

http://wox.sagepub.com/content/8/3/353Theonline version of this article can be found at:

DOI: 10.1177/0730888481008003041981 8: 353Work and Occupations

John McKeon, James Gillham and Carl BersaniCourt

Professional Identity and Interaction : The Case of a Juvenile

Published by:

http://www.sagepublications.com

can be found at:Work and OccupationsAdditional services and information for

http://wox.sagepub.com/cgi/alertsEmail Alerts:

http://wox.sagepub.com/subscriptionsSubscriptions:

http://www.sagepub.com/journalsReprints.navReprints:

http://www.sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.navPermissions:

http://wox.sagepub.com/content/8/3/353.refs.htmlCitations:

What is This?

- Aug 1, 1981Version of Record>>

at b-on: 01300 ISCTE on December 12, 2011wox.sagepub.comDownloaded from
http://wox.sagepub.com/http://wox.sagepub.com/http://wox.sagepub.com/content/8/3/353http://wox.sagepub.com/content/8/3/353http://wox.sagepub.com/content/8/3/353http://www.sagepublications.com/http://www.sagepublications.com/http://wox.sagepub.com/cgi/alertshttp://wox.sagepub.com/cgi/alertshttp://wox.sagepub.com/subscriptionshttp://wox.sagepub.com/subscriptionshttp://www.sagepub.com/journalsReprints.navhttp://www.sagepub.com/journalsReprints.navhttp://www.sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.navhttp://www.sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.navhttp://wox.sagepub.com/content/8/3/353.refs.htmlhttp://online.sagepub.com/site/sphelp/vorhelp.xhtmlhttp://online.sagepub.com/site/sphelp/vorhelp.xhtmlhttp://wox.sagepub.com/content/8/3/353.full.pdfhttp://wox.sagepub.com/content/8/3/353.full.pdfhttp://wox.sagepub.com/http://wox.sagepub.com/http://wox.sagepub.com/http://online.sagepub.com/site/sphelp/vorhelp.xhtmlhttp://wox.sagepub.com/content/8/3/353.full.pdfhttp://wox.sagepub.com/content/8/3/353.refs.htmlhttp://www.sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.navhttp://www.sagepub.com/journalsReprints.navhttp://wox.sagepub.com/subscriptionshttp://wox.sagepub.com/cgi/alertshttp://www.sagepublications.com/http://wox.sagepub.com/content/8/3/353http://wox.sagepub.com/


2/29

353

Past work has shown that professionals have different patterns of interpersonalcontacts in different settings. Verbal defining constitutes one unstudied aspect ofsuchcontacts. This article uses certam attributes of a juvenile court setting to formulate

hypotheses on the relative importance of 6 measures ofprofessional identity and10 kinds of defining. Pearson and canonical correlations support 14 of the 16hypotheses in that juvenile court. These results point to the utility of a situationalapproach to professional identity and defining.

Professional Identityand Interaction

THE CASE OF A JUVENILE COURT

JOHN McKEONWalsh College

JAMES GILLHAM

State University Collegeat Buffalo

CARL BERSANI

The University ofAkron

uch of the scholarly literature on professionals and pro-fessionalism has concentrated on whether certain occupa-tions should be considered professions and on the criteria that

distinguish professional and nonprofessional occupations.Recently, however, Kerr and his colleagues (1977) called for

studying occupations through a method that gives recognitionto the importance of individual differences among members ofthe same profession and does not require that individuals beclassed as &dquo;professionals&dquo; or &dquo;nonprofessionals&dquo;-merely onthe basis of their occupation.

SOCIOLOGY OF WORKAND OCCUPATIONS, Vol 8 No. 3,August@ 1981 Sage Publications, Inc

http://wox.sagepub.com/http://wox.sagepub.com/http://wox.sagepub.com/http://wox.sagepub.com/


3/29

354

Ritzer, among others, provides a rationale for such an

approach:

In every occupation there are some individuals who are moreprofessional than others.... It seems logical to assume that themore professional occupations have the greater number ofprofessional individuals. However, this does not negate thecontention that within each occupation there is individualvariation [1972: 53].

Most

important,some evidence is available that as

profession-als in a bureaucracy experience the role-making process, theytake the role of others differently than do the less professional(Haga, 1974; Milner, 1970). This is the major premise whichunderlies our investigation.

This article examines an emerging professional group:juvenile correctional workers, specifically the staff ofa juvenilecourt in a midwestern, urban county. The study does not try todetermine whether the occupation itself should be considered a

profession. Rather, it uses the court as a setting to explore not

only professional identity among the court workers but alsothe interpersonal and media relationships that help theseworkers define professional conduct.

PROBLEM

PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY

In their comprehensive review of the professionalism issue,Kerr and his associates note that the literature is &dquo;replete with

confusing and contradictory definitions and operationaliza-

tions&dquo; (1977: 341 ). But they compile a list of six commonly usedcharacteristics of &dquo;ideal&dquo; professionals: expertise, autonomy,commitment, identification with the profession and fellow

professionals, ethics, and collegial maintenance of standards

(1977: 332).Kerr et al. openly concede that their list focuses on attitudi-

nal attributes that characterize individuals as professionals



4/29

355

rather than structural criteria that figure in classifying an occu-

pation as a profession.

PROFESSIONAL INTERACTION

In an earlier review of professionalism, Elliott (1972: 40)describes the professional as &dquo;embedded in a dynamic complexof relationships&dquo; which serves to pull the practitioner in differ-ent directions. To unravel these effects on the professionalsinteractions, Elliott argues for a situational

approachin

study-ing professionalism.Goode (1957) expresses similar sentiments in depicting pro-

fessions as communities contained within the larger society.As

communities, professions place such importance on theirmembers relationships that most have established codes ofethics governing members relations with each other, clients,and society.

But concepts of professionalism assign these relationshipsvarying degrees of legitimacy as sources for information on

appropriate conduct for the professional on the job. In terms ofthe characteristics compiled by Kerr and his associates, exper-tise, identification, and collegial maintenance of standards allenhance the status of a professionals peers as informationalsources.

Other characteristics of professionalism help shape the rolesof those outside the profession as sources ofjob-related infor-mation. For example, according to some lines ofreasoning, thenotion of autonomy dictates that the professional must claimthe exclusive right to diagnose the problem and prescriberemedies; the client lacking such expertise, according to this

reasoning, should be excluded from the process (Wilensky,

1964).This suggests that, on theoretical grounds, certain entities in

the professionals surrounding can be expected to be strongsources of information used on the job, while others may be

negligible or even negative. Previous studies, moreover, haveshown that these relationships can vary with setting. LikeElliott (1972), who argues for a situational approach to



5/29

356

professionalism, Kerr and associates call for a focus on the

&dquo;type of setting where sample members are employed&dquo; (1977:

340). This dictates an examination offactors in the professionalswork setting before assigning priorities among the kinds of

people and media that contribute job-related sources of infor-mation.

Therefore, our intent is to examine &dquo;role-making&dquo; (the otherside of the socialization coin), which is a means of improvisingto deal with the total range of experiences associated with ones

position in a setting. In the sense used here, role includes notonly prescribed/ proscribed behaviors but also areas of option,thereby permitting the occupant behavioral choices (McCalland Simmons, 1978; Katz and Kahn, 1978).

Elements of professional identity such as expertise and

autonomy can help professionals make their roles differentlythan do less professional workers (Haga, 1974).As well, inter-

action with reference groups in a bureaucratic setting con-tributes to rolemaking. Most persons-professional or not-

eventually find others whose expectations impact on theiridentitiesbehavior (Ziller, 1965; Dansereau et al., 1975).

RECENT EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE ON

PROFESSIONALS INTERACTIONS

Despite the importance of precepts of professionalism in thetransference of information used on the job, the question hasreceived little empirical attention in recent years. In their studyof the relation between professionalism and role-making,Haga and his associates (1974: 125-126) report that the more

professional workers tend to read more journals and books in

searching fornew

ideas to use in their work. In terms of defin-ing the job themselves, these professionals also cite formaleducation, collegial contacts, professional associations, and

professional publications. Milners (1970, 1971a) study of fourWisconsin police departments reports similar findings.

But these studies incorporate several weaknesses in terms ofthe proposed relation between workers professional identity



6/29

357

and job-related interaction. First, although Milner (1971b) hasbegun to explore the police occupational milieu as a mitigating

factor in compliance with Supreme Court decisions, neither henor Haga has exlicitly related his variables to attributes oftheirsettings despite the considerable other work suggesting thatprofessionalism and associated interaction vary by setting(Wilensky, 1964; Hall, 1968, Freidson, 1970; Elliott, 1972: 100and 141; Pavalko, 1971: 106). Presumably elements of thework setting shape both sides ofthis relation by encouraging or

limitingthe various

aspectsof

identityand interaction.

Second,both the Haga and Milner studies use rather limited sets ofvariables despite the multifaceted situations faced in real life bymany types of workers with varying degrees of professionalidentity. Third, these studies do not test hypotheses on therelative strengths of various professional identity and interac-tion variables, despite clear indication that a particular settingmakes certain aspects of professional

identityand interaction

more relevant than others. Fourth, while these studies showthat more professional workers and less professional workerstend to select different kinds of information, no data are pre-sented to argue that any of the information has any relation to

job behavior for either category of worker.Standard variables on defining, however, provide one

means of surmounting this fourth problem. Previous research(Gross, Mason, and McEachern, 1958; Woelfel et al., 1974:

249; Woelfel et al., 1972: 12; Woelfel and Haller, 1971a: 76;Mettlin, 1973: 147) suggests that a persons behavior varies

strongly with what media or other persons, called sources, tellhim or her is appropriate. This means that the more favorablethe source to the behavior and the more often the source

conveys that information to the worker, the more frequentlythe worker will perform that behavior.

Defining, basically verbal in nature, involves the focal

persons perception of certain others expectations for his orher behavior-including the frequency ofsuch communication.Bersani and associates (1977) not only discuss the abovestudies which have shown relationships between such variablesand behavior but also specify how defining can be measured in



7/29

358

terms of three multiplicative attributes-exposure, coverage,and bias. Exposure indicates the persons total contacts with

others. Coverage pertains to the proportion of these contactsdevoted to the behavior of interest. Multiplied together,exposure and coverage indicate the perceived frequency of thedefining. Bias reflects the perceived overall degree of favorable-ness or unfavorableness of the others to the behavior or, more

specifically, the perception of the rate at which others believethat the other person should engage in this behavior.

Along with certain other variables, this method of measur-ing defining has fairly consistently accounted for one-half to

three-quarters of the variance in such diverse behaviors as

assisting French separatist candidates and attending separatistrallies (R2 = .55 and .37, respectively; Woelfel et al., 1974),marijuana use (R2 = .80; Woelfel et al., 1972), cigarette smok-

ing (R2 = .66; Mettlin, 1973), and occupational and educational

aspirations (R2=

.64 and.54, respectively; Woelfel and Haller,1971).

For the study of professionalism, these four issues-the set-

ting, number of variables, strengths of variables, and informa-tions relation to job behavior-are important to improvingthe precision of our knowledge of how more professionalworkers differ from the less professional in a particular work

setting.This study not only takes into account the setting-ajuvenile court-but also, within this setting, a particularbehavior: talking with youth about ways to avoid pastmistakes.A fundamental job behavior was selected becauseour informal experience shows that particular sources have

varying importance, depending heavily on the task at hand.

Overall,the

studydescribed in this article uses a

specificjobbehavior in a particular work setting to develop a relativelylengthy list of variables as well as hypotheses on the relative

importance of its variables. These consist of a set of 6 measuresof professional identity and 10 measures ofdefining by personsand media that provide the workers with information relatedto professional conduct, in this case the specific job behaviorthat serves as the basis for the

hypotheses.



8/29

359

Through canonical correlations, this study then comparesthe professional identity variables to the court workers

defining on a specific job behavior. It also uses zero-ordercorrelations as a further test of relationships indicated by thecanonical correlations and to validate the defining measures bycomparing them with actual behavior.

SETTING

The juvenile court that served as the setting for this study hasestablished a reputation as a model institution in the juvenilejustice field (Kratcoski and Hernandez, 1974). In about 95% ofthe courts cases, the youngsters never return on subsequentoffenses.

About a decade ago, this court decided to improve its opera-tions

by minimizingthe distinction between custodial and

treatment personnel.As a means of unifying its operations, thecourt developed three basic objecives that now underlie all its

operations (Kratcoski and Hernandez, 1974). The first calls for

minimizing the youngsters penetration into thejuvenile justicesystem. The second objective calls for maximizing the courts

capacity for differential treatment, care, and custody. Thecourts third objective involves maximizing research andevaluation to provide organizational feedback and change.Besides various studies by outside researchers, this includesstaff meetings where all aspects ofdealing with youths undergocontinual reevaluations.

The first two objectives reflect the courts acceptance of the

major elements of labelling theory. The third objective, with its

emphasis on evaluation and feedback, incorporates the courtscommitment to management-by-objectives (MBO) as its basicadministrative approach.To maximize its potential for achieving its objectives, the

court places special emphasis on staff recruiting. In effect,applicants are required to invest several days and considerableeffort for which they are not paid or reimbursed.All of this is

geared toward the recruitment of persons who can accept and



9/29

360

operate according to the courts expressed objectives.Admin-istrators then make recommendations to the court judge, who

makes the final decision on hiring. The court also tries to hirehighly educated persons for all its positions.A key effort involves frequent and mandatory in-servicetraining, uniform in content, for all personnel. This trainingaims less at promoting individual excellence than at developingthe overall competence of the staff. On the job, MBO providesanother means of enforcing staff adherence to the courts

objectives. The system calls for supervisors and subordinatesto establish specific goals, then for the supervisors to providefeedback toward meeting them. The court also exercises its

option to call on staff at any hour, day or night, as needed. It,likewise, makes no secret of its willingness to terminate

employees who do not measure up to its expectations.The courts objectives, coupled with this process for achiev-

ing them,has

providedthe court with a staff that shares a

common outlook toward working for the court. Workers seemto attach relatively little importance to whether they work indetention, probation, or some other court operation.

Even promotions to supervisory jobs do not seem to disturbthis self-perception. While new supervisors recognize that theirnew role requires supervision, they see their purpose as

basically the same as before.Almost all supervisors continue towork directly with at least some juveniles, but promotionmeans closer contact with subordinates in helping the subordi-nates achieve the objectives as well.

A SETTING-SPECIFIC BEHAVIOR

In pursuing these three objectives, court staff members

engage extensively in eclectic forms of counseling with youthsreferred to the court.Although certain research has raiseddoubts about the efficacy of counseling (Truax and Carkhuff,1967: 5-11; cf. Gillham and Bersani, 1975), this court believesits own approach differs from those shown to be ineffective andconsiders it an essential component of the treatment process.

Despite the courts commitment to research and evaluation, no



10/29

361

well-designed investigation on this particular issue has beenconducted in this setting.

In terms of the threeobjectives, however,

the

counselingsessions supposedly help ward off further penetration into the

juvenile justice system. They also produce information helpfulin determining appropriate dispositions from the variety at thecourts disposal. Finally, they figure in the feedback process byproviding at least some direct information on the effects of thetreatment on the youths.As a measure of this kind of counseling, this study uses theamount of time that the youth workers devote to talking with

youths about avoiding past mistakes. This behavior is specificenough to be distinguished from idle chit-chat, on one hand,and more sophisticated techniques, such as behavior modifica-tion, on the other. Yet it is general enough to encompass mostof what transpires in such counseling, at least in an agency, likethis juvenile court, geared to certain behavioral changes.

THEORY

VARIABLES

The professional identity variables used in this study

basically correspond to the characteristics compiled by Kerrand his associates from many studies in the professionalismliterature (see Table 1). For expertise, this study uses variableson the extent of formal education as well as frequency of schooland workshop attendance. The court tries, as mentioned in the

description of the setting, to hire educated staff. But attendingschool or workshops off the job could relate to expertise as

well.Autonomy underlies a variable on the frequency with whichworkers tell youth what to expect. This reflects the extent towhich the court workers &dquo;make choices governing both themeans and the ends&dquo; (Kerr et al., 1977: 332) in their treatmentof these youth.As part of the treatment process, this involvedinteraction not only with the youths themselves but also with



11/29

362

TABLE1

Professional Identity

virtually everyone else in the picture to assure that all

concerned clearly understand the situation. This reduces risksthat these others may inadvertently interfere or undermine thecourt workers handling of the case.Commitment to the work and the profession provides the

basis for a variable on time spent doing paperwork at home.While much of the court workers activity is involuntary andforced upon him or her by youth with immediate and severe

problems, doing job-related paperwork at home is much morevoluntary. Quite often, in the first place, workers have com-plete freedom in choosing whether to do it at all. Second, doingpaperwork at home frees more time during the work day fordealing with youth and for other interaction that can involvedefining the workers job behavior.A worker demonstratesreal commitment regardless of home situation, when he or she

spendsa strenuous

day workingon

multiplecases and then

takes home material to write reports that night as well.Identification &dquo;with the profession and fellow professionals&dquo;

as well as collegial maintenance of standards (Kerr et al., 1977:

332) correspond to a variable on the frequency of asking other

youth workers for advice on handling troubled youths. These

requests create opportunities for these other workers to



12/29

363

TABLE 2

Professional Defining

specifically define appropriate behavior for the court worker.Ethics, lastly, corresponds to frequency of following up on

youths who pass through the courts jurisdiction. While theworkers self-interest might suggest helping youth only ondemand, ethical behavior would involve periodically checkingon the quality of the treatment rendered them. Such follow-upconstitutes service to both the youth and society.The professional defining variables concern those persons

and media that could conceivably serve as sources of job-related information that

correspondsto the court workers

professional identity (see Table 2). These interpersonal rela-tions are measured in units described earlier and involve the

youngsters whose cases the court worker handles, the parentsof these youngsters, the workers own supervisor and co-workers, psychologists who work with the court, youthworkers in other agencies, teachers, and police. The media



13/29

364

consist of books, for one, and newspapers and magazines, forthe other.

HYPOTHESES

The derivation of the hypotheses take a somewhat differentform here than generally found in most other investigations.The problem concerns the impact of the setting on the relationbetween professional identity and defining.Accordingly, thisarticle bases its

hypotheseson the earlier

descriptionof the

court setting. It is very difficult for us to cite previous researchsince very little or no research apparently addresses the

settings impact on this relation. We are unusually fortunate tohave as background an article (Kratcoski and Hernandez,1974) published on this explicit setting wherein the courtspractices are delineated clearly and in detail. We also inter-viewed selected court staff to clarify certain ambiguities. Thislimited interviewing does not allow, however, the elaborate

cross-referencing normally done in studies mainly dependenton such interviews for generating hypotheses and data collec-tion.

PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY

Overall, professional identity varies with defining on talkingto youth about avoiding past mistakes. More specifically, thiscourt hires educated people and education presumably changespersons information seeking; thus, education would consti-tute an important part of professional identity as these workersdecide to whom to listen on appropriate rates of discussionswith youth on mistakes.

Professional persons would, in other settings, exhibit sub-stantial autonomy, commitment, and identification with the

profession. But this court limits that by its many controlsdirected toward its objectives.As these court workers decide towhom to listen on discussions on mistakes, therefore, profes-sional identity should exhibit only moderate strength in tellingyouth what to expect, doing job-related paperwork at home,

and asking other youth workers for advice.



14/29

365

As mentioned earlier, this court finds that few youth come toits attention more than once. Thus, follow-up, to the extent it

may represent ethical concerns, would be expected to havelittle or no importance in professional identity.

SOURCES OF DEFINING

On discussions of mistakes, similarly, sources of definingwill vary in the extent to which more professional workers willtreat them as more

importantthan do the less

professional.Parents are important because the law holds them respon-sible for the conduct of their children. Additionally, this

particular court strongly encourages parent-worker contactsas necessary and practical when working on youth problems.Dealing with parents represents an extra step for professionals,moreover. In many situations the less professional will pre-sumably minimize contacts with parents since many parents,themselves, have severe problems.

While professionally oriented court workers might ordinar-ily pay a reasonable amount of attention to the defining ofcoworkers and psychologists, this courts setting-through itshiring, training, and management practices-provides muchof that guidance to all its staff. This makes the defining of thesesources likely to show only moderate importance in relationto professional identity.

Supervisors, youngsters in the court workers caseload, and

youth workers in other agencies have weaker positions assources of defining. In addition to having the weaker relationsto job and professional behavior found in a variety of settings(Blau and Scott, 1962; Downey et al., 1975; Franklin, 1975;Wilensky, 1964; Haga et al., 1974), supervisors in this court

have less to say because of the courts stringent hiring policiesand routine monitoring in regard to court objectives.Althougha court worker-regardless of professional identity-doeshave frequent contacts with youths in his or her case load, both

professionalism and court policies displace clients from havinga major influence on the workers job behavior. While perfunc-tory contacts with youth workers from other agencies-on

such topics as availability ofspace in a foster home-are neces-



15/29

366

sary for all court workers regardless of professional identity,the court obviously maintains its own policies. Thus, the

definingof

supervisors, youngstersin the court workers

caseload, and youth workers from other agencies should have

negligible relation to professional identity.This courts objectives differ from those of police and

teachers. While the court tries to keep juvenile offenders awayfrom the court setting and in school, police bring them in for

&dquo;justice.&dquo; Teachers prefer to keep &dquo;troublemakers&dquo;-ofwhichthere are a large number-out of the classroom. More profes-sional court workers would try to avoid the defining of policeand teachers. Less professional workers, on the other hand,might be more open to these discrepant views and acquiescemore frequently. Since police would normally have much lesscontact with a juvenile offender-and therefore with courtstaff-than do teachers, professional identity should have amoderate negative relation with police defining and a strong

negative one with that of teachers.Of the two media sources included in this study, books, as

well as newspapers and magazines, tend to devote themselvesto more timely material. But these are negated by this settingsuse of other procedures, mentioned earlier, to communicatethe courts expectations to workers.

METHODS

DATA COLLECTION

The information for this study came from responses to a

questionnaire. On four of the six professional identificationitems

(telling youthswhat to

expect, askingother

youthworkers for advice, attending school or workshops, and fol-

lowing up on youths in their caseloads), respondents chosefrom alternatives ranging from &dquo;never&dquo; (scored 1) to &dquo;almost

always&dquo; (scored 5).The educational-level item provided alternatives ranging

from sixth grade through masters degree and scored from 1

through13. On the remaining professional identity item, re-



16/29

367

spondents simply were asked to give the average number ofhours, per week, that they spent on paperwork at home.

(Pretestshad indicated that

respondentscould estimate this

figure fairly easily while encountering difficulties in makingsimilar estimates for the other items.)

For each of the 10 defining variables, the questionnaireobtained exposure, coverage, and bias measures. Possible

responses to the exposure item (the respondents overallcontact with the source) ranged from &dquo;not at all&dquo; (scored 0) to

&dquo;nearly all the time&dquo; (scored 4). Those for the coverage item

(the proportion of the contacts involving talking with youthsabout avoiding past mistakes) ranged from &dquo;none&dquo; (scored 0)to &dquo;almost all the time&dquo; (scored 4). Those for the bias item (thesources overall favorableness or unfavorableness) rangedfrom &dquo;somewhat opposed&dquo; (scored -1) to &dquo;highly favorable&dquo;(scored +3).The exposure, coverage, and bias scores for each source

were multiplied together to form a measure of the sources de-fining on talking with youths about avoiding past mistakes.Obviously, the defining measure came to zero if ( 1 ) a particularrespondent had no contact with the sources or (2) none of thecontact involved talking with youths about avoiding past mis-takes or (3) the source conveyed an essentially neutral attitudetoward the behavior.

To verify that the information respondents received fromthe various sources actually related to their work, the question-naire also obtained a measure of the amount of time that

respondents devoted to talking with youths about avoidingpast mistakes. Since pretests had indicated that respondentscould not readily make a direct estimate, the question wasbroken down into four items. These consisted ofthe number of

youths that the respondent normally spoke with, the averagelength of these conversations, the average number ofconversa-tions per youth, and the proportion ofthe discussions involvingavoiding past mistakes.

The range of possible responses for each of these items wasbroken down into specific subranges, each with a correspond-ing score. When multiplied together, the units of these scores

cancelled out, yielding a product monotonic, if not propor-



17/29

368

tional, to the amount of time that the respondent devoted totalking with youths about avoiding past mistakes.2

THE SAMPLE

The sample consisted of probation officers, detention homecounselors, community workers, intake interviewers, andother juvenile court staff members whose work involved

dealing with youths. While such personnel might represent

different occupationsin other

juvenile courts, they constitutethe single occupation &dquo;court worker&dquo; in this sample because, asdescribed earlier, of the courts practice of minimizing distinc-tions between different categories of staff members. Question-naires were distributed to a total of 67 persons along withinstructions to return completed questionnaires directly to the

investigators to insure anonymity. Of the total, 81% (N = 54)responded.

ANALYSIS

Through canonical analysis the professional identity vari-ables were compared with the defining variables. This type ofanalysis arrays one set of variables on one side of an equationand the other set on the other. For these variables, it then com-

putes coefficients, frequently called &dquo;weights,&dquo; that maximizethe correlation between the two sides of the equation. Thecanonical correlation indicates the overall relationship betweenthe two sets of variables while the canonical coefficients reveal

the relative importance of each variable. Since two sets ofvariables can have multiple kinds of relations, more than onecanonical correlation may result.

The literature suggests two approaches to the interpretationof each variables relative importance. When the researcherssubstantive theory indicates that a single dimension underliesthe variables on one side of the equation and that anotherunderlies on the other side, the researcher generally interpretscanonical loadings computed from the coefficients (Van deGeer, 1971: 162; Cooley and Lohnes, 1962: 41-44;Alpert and

Peterson, 1972; Reiman, 1975).



18/29

369

This approach does not apply to the situation in this article,however, because according to literature mentioned in the

Theory section,both

professional identityand interactions are

multidimensional not unidimensional.

The second approach applies to situations, like that in this

study, in which substantive theory suggests multiple dimen-sions on each side of the equation. In this case each variable

represents a separate dimension, and the original canonicalcoefficients are used to interpret results. Hotelling (1936: 342-

344), Kendall (1957: 84-85), and Tatsuoka (1971: 190-191)provide examples of this approach.

Kerlinger (1973: 344) as well asAlpert and Peterson (1972:189) argue that canonical coefficients are interpreted basicallyin the same way as regression weights. These authors cite corre-

sponding reasons-multicollinearity and suppressor effects-for caution in interpretation. To guard against these problemsin regression, researchers routinely examine the correspondingPearson correlations (cf. Lord and Novick, 1968: Kmenta,1971).To check on multicollinearity, therefore, this study reports

such correlations.As protection against suppressor effects, this

study requires that each variable show a significant zero-order,Pearson correlation with at least one variable in the other set to

verify any relation indicated by the canonical analysis. It alsouses such zero-order correlations to relate the defining vari-ables to the amount of time spent talking with youths about

avoiding past mistakes. This serves to verify that the courtworkers participation in this behavior is related to the infor-mation they receive from at least some ofthose with whom theyinteract in the course of their jobs.

RESULTS

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PROFESSIONAL

IDENTITYAND DEFINING

On the basic issue underlying this study, the canonical

analysisreveals

onlyone

statistically significantcanonical



19/29

370

correlation between the 6 professional identity and 10 definingvariables (re =.75, p < .03). (All probability levels presented are

one-tailed, unlessotherwise noted. The

principle of probabilitysampling underlying significance tests is not met by our sampl-ing procedure. Hence, the probability levels herein must be

interpreted with caution.) The square of this correlation-oreigenvalue-indicates that the sets share 56% of the variance.This tends to support the overall importance of those withwhom a practitioner interacts as sources of professional infor-mation.

RELATIVE STRENGTH OF PROFESSIONAL

IDENTITY VARIABLES

Table 4 lists the canonical coefficients for the variables in

this study. The professional identity coefficients tell which ele-ments of that identity relate most strongly to job-related defin-

ing. Similarly, the defining coefficients tell which sources relatemost strongly to identity.As expected, level of education proves one of the strongest

variables in professional identity with a canonical coefficient of.65; with its relation to defining, it leads the list, followed bythree relatively moderate variables: telling youths what to

expect (.46), asking other youth workers for advice (.37), and

doing paperwork at home (.34).Further affirming their status as professional identity vari-

ables, Table 3 shows each of the four also has significant(p < .05) Pearson correlations with variables in the definingset. Education correlates -.34 with teachers and -.36 with

police, the two entities whose objectives are especially likely toconflict with those of the court worker. Telling youths what to

expect correlates .51 with supervisors, .41 with coworkers, .34with parents, .32 with workers from other agencies,.33 with the

youths in the court workers caseload, and .27 with books.

Asking other youth workers for advice correlates .40 with

supervisors, .36 with coworkers, and .27 with parents of the

youths in the workers caseload. Doing paperwork at homecorrelates .30 with supervisors and .32 with books.



20/29

371

~s0)R

~ ~ 3 tooC~ :Id at CI)d d> ~R -

.c: ....

x o

.;: :Q dR =)E 31/1 o

:c .0- &dquo;0

E 21/1

-

I: :I

0 ~ s.- to-~u~ a) 5~21: ... 0O

N01:1/1

.... 0 :t~.gl:~i&dquo;0 0 .21:1/1-:s;~w So CI) ...:t~8-q-I/ICI) M ,-I- .1-~~NA



21/29

372

TABLE 4

CanonicalAnalysis of Defining and Professional Identity

for Juvenile Court Workers (N=

54)

The two remaining variables, following up on youths and

attending school or workshops, have canonical coefficients of.15 and -.35, respectively. The -.35, by itself, would indicatethat, in this

juvenilecourt, the more

professionalstaffmembers

actively avoid school and workshops. But like following up on

youths, this variable fails to correlate, negatively or positively,with any of the defining variables. So, as expected, both

follow-up and school or workshop prove negligible as variablesin professional identity.

RELATIVE STRENGTH OF DEFINING VARIABLES

Table 4 shows that, like the professional identity variables,the defining variables generally follow the predicted pattern.Of the interpersonal sources, parents have the strongestcanonical coefficient (.62). Psychologists (.50) and coworkers

(.29) show moderate strength; negligible relations appear for

supervisors (.18), youth in the workers caseload (-.11 ), andworkers from other agencies (-.19). Police (-.28) and teachers



22/29

373

(-.70) have moderate and strong negative relations, respec-tively. Of the media sources, both books (.22) and newspapers

and magazines (.00)show

negligible relationsto

professionalidentity in this court.An examination of the Pearson correlations in Table 3

shows that each of these variables-except psychologists and

newspapers and magazines-correlates significantly with atleast one variable in the professional identity set. For news-

papers and magazines, the lack of such a correlation presentsno

problem,since, as

expected,the canonical coefficient ranks

this variable a negligible source of professional information.But psychologists were expected to rank fairly high on the listof defining variables and, in the analysis, they emerged with thesecond highest coefficient: .50.The Pearson correlations in Table 3 provide one possible

explanation for this outcome. While lacking a significantcorrelation with any professional identity variable, psycholo-gists correlate significantly with seven of the other nine defin-

ing variables-all but parents and police. This indicates thatworkers who confer with psychologists also tend to talk withother sources. Difficult cases presumably stimulate much ofthe contact with psychologists. But the court assigns such casesto staff members best able to handle them, not necessarily tothose with the strongest professional identity. So, compared totheir more professional colleagues, less professional workerssometimes may need to work more closely with psychologists.In any event, the lack of a significant zero-order correlationwith a professional identity variable forces rejection of the

hypothesis that psychologists constitute a substantial source ofinformation for the more professional court workers.

REDUCING THE NUMBER OF VARIABLES

With a total of 16 variables and 54 cases, the originalanalysis involves about 3 cases per variable. Multiple regres-sion, a technique closely related to canonical analysis, requires5 cases per variable. If the analysis excludes the 2 professionalidentity and 5 interaction variables expected to be negligible,

the number ot cases per variable rises to 6.



23/29

374

TABLE 5

CanonicalAnalysis Excluding Variables Hypothesizedto Have Negligible Relations

Table 5 shows the outcome of reducing the number ofvariables to nine.Although the magnitude of most of the coef-ficients changes slightly, they still hold the same relative posi-tions vis-a-vis each other. This indicates that the relatively fewcases per variable in the original analysis had not damaged theoutcome.

OUTLYING CASES

A comparison of the Pearson and Spearman correlations inTable 3 reveals several differences, indicating a need toexamine outlying cases. These, for the most part, involve

respondents in supervisory positions or staff members whotalk with relatively few youths. In this court, therefore, profes-sional identity may seem to involve the number of workers thatthe respondent supervises or the number of youths with whomthe worker discusses past mistakes.

Table 6 shows the results ofadding these two variables to the

professional identity set. This produces some modest changesin the magnitude of the canonical coefficients and reverses theorder of telling youths what to expect and asking other workersfor advice in the professional identity set.



24/29

375

TABLE 6

CanonicalAnalysis Including Two Variables Suggested

by Examination of Deviant Cases

In the defining set, however, youths and police, seventh andninth, respectively, on the original list, in effect switch places.While this does not seem to affect conclusions about youths-or youth workers from other agencies, which remain in eighthplace-it no longer allows the police result to be interpreted asmoderately negative. This revised analysis, therefore, fails to

support the original hypothesis on police as negative sources ofinformation vis-d-vis the court workers professional identity.As for the two additions to the professional identity list,

neither receives support. The canonical coefficient of .09 ranksthe number of workers supervised as a negligible indicator.Results are ambiguous, and thus probably negligible, for thenumber of youths with whom the worker discusses avoidingpast mistakes. While the canonical coefficient is negative(-.28), the Pearson correlations are positive: .33 with co-workers, .33 with parents, and .41 with teachers.



25/29

376

RELATION BETWEEN DEFININGAND BEHAVIOR

As a further measure of the appropriateness of its definingvariables as sources of information used on the job, this studyexamines the zero-order correlations between these variables

and the amount of time devoted to talking to youths about

avoiding past mistakes. Table 3 shows that 3 of 10-supervis-ors, coworkers, and the youths in the court workers case-load-correlate significantly with the behavior. This supportsthe Woelfel and Haller (1971) findings that people obtain most

behavior-related information from relatively few sources.

Except for coworkers, the sources that correlate withbehavior show relatively little importance when related to

professional identity. This implies that the court workers inthis sample may look to certain sources for concepts of

professional conduct. But in practice, they may find them-selves adhering more closely to the expectations of others.

In this instance, the relatively strong correlation of youthswith the court workers behavior may, in part, reflect the

courts use of MBO to optimize use of its resources. This, inturn, implies that court workers seek the route of least likelyresistance to reach the desired goal-specific behavior changeson the part of the youths in the courts jurisdiction. So whilecourt workers may be able to resist youths as a source of

information related to professional identity, youths still mayoccupy a potent position vis-a-vis behavior.

DISCUSSION

Although the structure ofjuvenile courts per se is important,

the specific processes of this court regarding hiring, training,policies, and monitoring are most useful in examining thenature of role-making within this setting. Once one knows thenature of such influence, one can make very good guesses, asthis article indicates, on the complexion of role-making(Bucher and Stelling, 1977).

These data also make explicit one kind of quantitative rela-tion between

role-takingand

role-making.The

definingnotion



26/29

377

has demonstrated its usefulness as an element of role-taking,and the combination of multiple measures of defining in acanonical

analysisconstitutes a

quantitative approachto role-

making that some researchers may find helpful. This approachis easily adapted to the study of multiple identities and to areasof role-making. Lastly, these data suggest a comment on the

pervading issue of the relative power of bureaucratic versusprofessional controls (see, e.g., Kahn et al., 1964; Katz andKahn, 1978). This court has unusually strong bureaucraticcontrols, particularly

comparedto other juvenile courts. While

obvious relations exist between the setting and the develop-ment of professional identity, professionalism still holds onand role-making shows clear differences among workers of

varying professional identity.

NOTES

1. These data were collected during the first part of 1974. Liska (1974: 263) argues"that the strong criticism ... leveled against the use of questionnaire items as a measureof overt behavior is not well empirically substantiated ... the evidence does not seem towarrant a general discontinuation of their use as an index of behavior.

Although this type of measurement may be somewhat unusual in sociology, itsrationale is hardly controversial. For some time physicists have multiplied ratios

together, cancelling conceptual units, then working with the remaining units (PhysicalScience Study Committee, 1960). Second, and more important, a small Monte Carlo

study using random variables tested the effects of multiplying scores assigned to ratiosrather than the ratios themselves.As expected, the results indicated little or no

damage. Third, the dependent variable, which employs a similar multiplicativeprocedure and is discussed later in the text, was regressed on several measures of

components of time spent helping youth avoid past mistakes. These included

frequency of discussing alternatives open to youth and frequency of talking to the

youth about the experiences of others. Practitioners not involved in this study later

reported that these results conformed to their experience.



27/29

378

REFERENCES

ALPERT, M. I. and R. A. PETERSON (1972) "On the interpretation of canonical

analysis." J. of Marketing Research 29: 187-192.BERSANI, C., J. GILLHAM, and D. N. GILLHAM (1977) "Perceived expectations

and role behavior ofsocialization agents: The case of the school counselorand SESareas." Soc. Q. 18: 384-398.

BLAU, P. M. and W. R. SCOTT (1962) Formal Organizations. San Francisco:Chandler.

BUCHER, R. and J. C. STELLING (1977) Becoming Professional. Beverly Hills, CA:Sage.

COOLEY, W. W. and P. R. LOHNES (1962) Multivariate Procedures for the Behav-

ioral Sciences. New York: John Wiley.DANSERAU, F., Jr., G. GRAEN, and W. J. HAGA (1975) "A vertical dyad linkage

approach to leadership within formal organizations:A longitudinal investigationof the role-making process." Organizational Behavior and Human Performance13: 46-78.

DOWNY, H. K., J. E. SHERIDAN and J. W. SLOCUM, Jr. (1975) "Analysis of rela-

tionships among leader behavior, subordinate job performance and satisfaction:A

path goal approach."Academy of Management J. 18: 253-262.

ELLIOTT, P. (1972) The Sociology of the Professions. New York: Herder and Herder.

FRANKLIN, J. L. (1975) "Relations among four social-psychological aspects oforganizations."Administrative Sci. Q. 20: 422-433.

FRIEDSON, E. (1970) Profession of Medicine:A Study of the Sociology ofAppliedKnowledge. New York: Dodd, Mead.

GILLHAM, J. and C. BERSANI (1975) "People or paperwork-an analysis of influ-ence upon juvenile court personnel." Criminology 13: 521-534.

GROSS, N., W. S. MASON, andA. W. McEACHERN (1958) Exploration in Role

Analysis. New York: John Wiley.HAGA, W. J., G. GRAEN, and F. DANSEREAU, Jr. (1974) "Professionalism and

rolemaking

in a service

organization:A

longitudinal investigation."Amer. Rev.

39: 122-133.

HALL, R. H. (1968) "Professionalization and bureaucratization."Amer. Soc. Rev.33:92-104.

HOLLMANN, R. W. (1976) "Supportive management climate and managerial assess-ment of MBO."Academy of Management J. 19: 560-576.

HOTELLING, H. (1936) "Relations between two sets of vanates." Biometrika 28: 321-377.

HUGHES, E. C. (1965) "Professions," pp. 1-14 in K. S. Lynn (ed.) The Professions inAmerica. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin.

KAHN, R. L., D. M. WOLFE, R. P. QUINN, J. D. SNOEK, and R.A. ROSEN-THAL (1964) Organizational Stress. New York: John Wiley.

KATZ, D. and R. KAHN (1978) The Social Psychology of Organizations. New York:John Wiley.

KENDALL, M. G. (1957)A Course in MultivariateAnalysis. New York: Hafner.

KERLINGER, F. N. and E. J. PEDHAZUR (1973) Multiple Regression in BehavioralResearch. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.



28/29

379

KERR, S., M.A. VON GLINOW, and J. SCHRIESHEIM (1977) "Issues m the studyof professionals in organizations: The case of scientists and engineers." Organiza-tional Behavior and Human Performance 18: 329-345.

KMENTA, J. (1971) Elements of Econometrics. New York: Macmillan.KRATCOSKI, P. C. and F. HERNANDEZ (1974) "The application of management

principles to the juvenile court system." Juvenile Justice 25: 39-44.

LISKA,A. E. (1974) "Emergent issues in the attitude behavior consistency contro-versy."Amer. Soc. Rev. 39: 261-272.

LORD, F. M. and M. R. NOVICK (1968) Statistical Theories of Mental Test Scores.

Reading, MA:Addison Wesley.McCALL, G. J. and J. L. SIMMONS (1978) Identities and Interaction. New York:

Free Press.

METTLIN, C. (1973) "Smoking as behavior:Applying a social psychological theory."J. of Health and Social Behavior 14: 144-152.MILNER, N.A. (1971a) The Court and Local Law Enforcement: The Impact of

Miranda. Beverly Hills, CA. Sage. (1971b) "Supreme Court effectiveness and the police organization." Law and

Contemporary Problems 36: 467-487. (1970) "Comparative analysis of patterns of compliance with Supreme Court

decisions: Miranda and the police in four communities." Law and Society Rev. 4:119-134.

PAVALKO, R. M.

(1971) Sociologyof

Occupationsand Professions. Itasca, IL:

Peacock.

Physical Science Study Committee (1960) Physics. Boston: D. C. Heath.REIMANN, B. C. (1975) "Organizational effectiveness and managements public

values:A canonical analysis."Academy of Management J. 18: 224-241.

RITZER, G. (1972) Man and His Work: Conflict and Change. New York: Meredith

Corporation.TATSUOKA, M. M. (1971) MultivariateAnalysis. New York: John Wiley.TRUAX, C. B. and R. R. CARKHUFF (1967) Toward Effective Counseling and Psy-

chotherapy. Chicago:Aldine/Atherton.VAN DE GEER, J. P. (1971) Introduction to MultivariateAnalysis for the Social

Sciences. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman.

WILENSKY, H. L. ( 1964) "The professionalization of everyone?"Amer. J. of Sociol-ogy 70: 137-158.

WOELFEL, J. andA O. HALLER (1971) "Significant others, the self-reflexive act,and the attitude formation process."Amer. Soc. Rev. 36: 74-87.

WOELFEL, J., D. HERNANDEZ, and M. I. WOELFUL (1972) "Media and inter-

personal effects on attitude formation and behavior." (unpublished)WOELFEL, J., J. WOELFEL, J. GILLHAM, and T. McPHAIL (1974) "Political

radicalization as a communication process." Communication Research 1: 243-263.ZILLER, R. C. (1965) "Toward a theory of open and closed groups." Psych. Bull. 64:

164-182.

JOHN McKEON isAssociate Professor of Sociology at WalshCollege and a doctoral candidate at the University ofAkron. His



29/29

380

research interests include interpersonal communication, victimiza-

tion, and vandalism.

JAMES GILLHAM isAssistant Professor ofCriminal Justice at the

State University College at Buffalo, New York. His research focuseson cognitive structure and change among participants in criminal

justice.

CARL BERSANI is Associate Professor of Sociology at the

University ofAkron. He is currently editing an anthology on

criminology.

work and occupations 1981 mckeon 353 80

Documents