Accountability in community corrections: A quantitative study examining the relationship among accountability perceptions and job performance in Community Correction Officers

The paradigm of measuring and managing for results is a critical component of public sector agencies at the federal, state and local level. However, community correctional agencies have lagged behind other government functions in implementing organizational accountability. Community correctional agencies are tasked with the core mission to protect public safety, yet they continue to be plagued with the stigma of doing a poor job to measure and manage their performance. Accountability is noted as an important organizational phenomenon that is fundamental to the successful operation of an organization. Hence, this dissertation examined Community Correction Officers' response to increased accountability based on their perceptions of accountability and factors influencing job performance. The study's findings suggested that there were significant positive relationships between accountability perceptions and job performance among Community Correction Officers who were extrinsically and intrinsically motivated. The results of Pearsons correlation indicated that as accountability perceptions increased, job performance increased for both intrinsically and extrinsically motivated respondents.