Exploring the Effects of Organizational Structure Variables on the Organizational Justice Perceptions of Correctional Staff

• Date: 01 November 2021
• Published date: 01 November 2021
• DOI: 10.1177/00328855211048173
• Subject Matter: Articles

Exploring the Effects of

Organizational Structure

Variables on the

Organizational Justice

Perceptions of Correctional

Staff

Eric G. Lambert

1

, Emily Berthelot

2

,

Weston Morrow

2

, Lauren Block

2

,

and Nancy Hogan

3

Abstract

Research examining the effect of organizational justice on the correctional

environment is typically limited to its consequences on various outcomes.

Absent from this body of literature is how perceptions of organizational

justice are formed among correctional staff. Filling this void and using

data from a Midwestern correctional facility, the current study examines

the impact of instrumental communication, integration, formalization,

and input into decision-making on the distributive and procedural justice

perceptions of correctional staff. With the exception of integration, all

organizational structure variables were signif‌icantly related to both forms

of organizational justice. These f‌indings offer correctional administrators

a low cost and practical solution for enhancing organizational justice

through organizational structure.

1

Indiana University Northwest, Gary, IN, USA

2

University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USA

3

Ferris State University, Big Rapids, MI, USA

Corresponding Author:

Eric G. Lambert, School of Public & Environmental Affairs, Indiana University Northwest, 2016

Dunes Medical/Professional Bldg., 3400 Broadway, Gary, IN 46408, USA.

Email: elambert55555@gmail.com

Article

The Prison Journal

2021, Vol. 101(5) 553–574

© 2021 SAGE Publications

Article reuse guidelines:

sagepub.com/journals-permissions

DOI: 10.1177/00328855211048173

journals.sagepub.com/home/tpj

Keywords

correctional staff, organizational justice, distributive justice, procedural

justice, organizational structure

Introduction

Staff are an important resource for correctional organizations. Responsiblefor a

myriad of duties andtasks to maintain a humane, safe, and secure facility, staff

are not only a valuable resource, but also an expensive one. Between 70% and

80% of the operating budget for most prisons is for staff‌ing (Tewksbury &

Higgins, 2006). Not only do staff have signif‌icant effects on organizations,

but organizational workplace factors also affect staff. One workplace variable

found to affect correctional staff is perceptions of organizational justice

(Greenberg, 1990a,1990b). Organizational justice, also referred to as organiza-

tional fairness, refers to the perception that the employing organization treats

employees in a fair and just manner (Colquitt & Greenberg, 2005).

Past organizational justice research on the perceptions of correctional staff

has focused on the consequences of this concept. Specif‌ically, the two major

forms of organizational justice, distributive justice (perceived fairness of out-

comes) and procedural justice (perceived fairness of process and procedures

to make decisions of distributive justice), have been reported to be linked to

various salient outcomes, such as perceived fairness of the community super-

vision process (Blasko & Taxman, 2018), the effectiveness of courts (Kaiser

& Holtfreter, 2016), job satisfaction and organizational commitment of correc-

tional staff(Lambert et al., 2019), and stress of correctional staff (Lambertet al.,

2020).

Research has suggested that efforts be undertaken to improve worker per-

ceptions of distributive and procedural justice; however, little,if any, empirical

research has been conducted on how workplace variables are associated with

the two major forms of organizational justice among correctional staff. In an

effort to f‌ill this void, thisexploratory study examines the effectsof instrumen-

tal communication, integration, formalization, and input into decision-making

on the distributive and procedural justice perceptions of correctional staff.

The knowledge gained will aid correctional administrators in building more

positive perceptions of organizational justice.

Literature Review

Organizational Justice

The concept of justice is a key part of U.S. society that spans many aspects of

life (Colquitt, et al., 2001). Hoy and Tarter (2004) noted that “there is little

554 The Prison Journal 101(5)