ANALYSIS OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE STAFF TRAINING FUNCTION IN HUMAN SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to analyze the development of the staff training activities in human service organizations to determine whether the level of development of the training functions is related to the organization's meeting specific external accreditation standards. The population for this study was the 21 largest jail systems in the United States, each with an inmate population of approximately 1000 or more inmates.

The data collection instrument was a mailed questionnaire which elicited data giving two types of information. These types of information included: (1) the level of development of each of the jails' training functions and (2) information concerning the level of the jails' compliance with selected standards of the Commission on Accreditation for Corrections for adult local detention facilities. The data were analyzed using the Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficient (r(,s)) to determine the association between level of development of the training function and compliance with accreditation standards. The Median and Fisher Exact Probability Test and the Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficient (r(,s)) tests were used to determine the association between the existence of external training mandates and level of development of training functions of each jail.

The major findings were as follows: (1) there is a significant association between the level of development of the training function and the meeting of accreditation standards; (2) some external training mandates are associated with the level of development while others are not. It was found that state minimum standards and state policies for training are associated with the level of development of training. County minimum standards and training policies as well as court decisions mandating training are not associated with the level of development of the training function.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-06, Section: A, page: 1667.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.