The Effects of Procedural Justice on Obligation to Obey, and Compliance among Incarcerated Offenders in South Africa

• Author: Paul Oluwatosin Bello,Thabiso Donald Matshaba
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/00328855221136197
• Published date: 01 December 2022
• Date: 01 December 2022
• Subject Matter: Articles

The Effects of Procedural

Justice on Obligation to

Obey, and Compliance

among Incarcerated

Offenders in South Africa

Paul Oluwatosin Bello

1

and Thabiso Donald Matshaba

1

Abstract

This study explores the impacts of procedural justice on incarcerated offend-

ers’obligationto obey, and compliance with correctional rules and procedures

in selected South African correctional centers. The Tylerian process-based

regulation model holds that compliance with legal authorities is contingent

upon some normative and instrumental factors. While these factors have

been considered to shape compliance among inmates in correctional centers

in Western societies, there is a dearth of research on compliance behavior

among incarcerated offenders in correctional centers in transitional African

societies, including South Africa. A cross-sectional survey of participants

from selected correctional centers in South Africa assessed the effect of pro-

cedural justice and other exogenous elements on inmates’obligation to obey

and comply with correctional rules and procedures. The f‌indings indicate,

among others, that inmates who assessed correctional off‌icials as procedurally

just or fair were more likely to obey and comply with correctional rules and

procedures. The implications of the f‌indings for the effective management of

incarcerated offenders are discussed.

1

University of South Africa (UNISA), Pretoria, South Africa

Corresponding Author:

Paul Oluwatosin Bello, Department of Corrections Management, School of Criminal Justice,

College of Law (CLAW), University of South Africa (UNISA), Pretoria, South Africa.

Email: bellopo@unisa.ac.za

Article

The Prison Journal

2022, Vol. 102(6) 673–693

© 2022 SAGE Publications

Article reuse guidelines:

sagepub.com/journals-permissions

DOI: 10.1177/00328855221136197

journals.sagepub.com/home/tpj

Keywords

compliance, inmates, procedural justice, South Africa

Introduction

The importance of order in the effective management of correctional institu-

tions has been widely reported in literature (Meško & Hacin, 2019; Maguire

et al., 2019; Useem & Piehl, 2006; Reisig, 2001; Logan, 1993). Correctional

administrators usually rely on inmates’compliance for order to be maintained

and sustained in the corrections environment (Jackson et al., 2010; Maguire

et al., 2019). Although most correctional institutions have conventional mech-

anisms for maintaining order and enforcing compliance, they are typically

coercive, or a combination of formal sanctions and rewards. However,

these approaches have been found to be ineffective, and research does not

give much credence to them (Nuño & Morrow, 2020; Bottoms, 1999;

Reisig 1998; Sparks et al., 1996). In fact, a coercive approach to order main-

tenance in correctional environments has been found to breed hostility

between inmates and correctional off‌icials, as well as deepening the social dis-

tance between them (Meško & Hacin, 2019).

Contrastingly, research has shown that a normative approach that is pre-

mised on impartial and fair use of authority may be appropriate in gaining

compliance and in achieving order in custodial institutions (Maguire et al.,

2019). A normative approach exemplif‌ies the procedures, daily attitude, or

behavior of correctional off‌icials towards incarcerated offenders in the custo-

dial environment in terms of how they treat inmates. Fair treatment or conduct

is widely reported to promote inmates’perceived obligation to obey correc-

tional off‌icials (which is a proxy element of legitimacy), and in turn promotes

voluntary compliance (Campbell et al., 2020; Sparks & Bottoms, 1995).

Studies have also documented that fairorimpartialtreatment,moresothan

instrumental factors,is a strong predictorof compliance behavior in correctional

settings (Liebling, 2011). There is substantial evidence to suggest that correc-

tional off‌icials who are courteous or well-disposed usually have a valuable

and sustained professional working relationship with inmates and, by extension,

treat inmates in a procedurally fair manner (Campbell et al., 2020; Maguire et al.,

2019). Beyond helping to create a healthy and safe custodial environment, such

gestures and practices often stimulate inmates’willingness to obey correctional

off‌icials, as well as their voluntary compliance with correctional rules and pro-

cedures (Beijersbergen et al., 2015).

It would be impracticable for correctional off‌icials to execute their duties

and maintain order in the corrections environment without corresponding

674 The Prison Journal 102(6)