Monica Solinas-Saunders

• Ph.D.
• Professor (Associate) at Indiana University Northwest

Organizational justice refers to the view that the employing organization treats employees in a fair and just manner. There are different schools of thought regarding the number of dimensions that compose organizational justice, but the current study included four: informational, interactional, procedural, and distributive. Organizational trust ref...

The study focuses on the complex interconnection of race, sexuality, and socioeconomic background in shaping the stories of mothers struggling with addiction disorders as they attempt to recover from traumatic experiences. A sample of 45 mothers was employed in the study. Using case study analysis methodologies, the stories of 6 mothers were used a...

Applying the tenets of QuantCrit, longitudinal trends in estimated graduate school enrollment percentages for Black and White students from 2002 to 2018 were analyzed and compared using U.S. Department of Education data. While the statistical analyses for Black students confirmed a positive linear trend, the relatively recent downward movement from...

In the social sciences, belongingness is among the individual core social needs. Institutionalization is a powerful mediator in the individual search for belongingness, as it establishes agency among group members. Using a conceptual framework that borrows from theories of institutionalization and group membership, we examine the lives of incarcera...

This study surveyed 322 officers at two prisons in China to investigate the influence of job demands (i.e., role overload and routinization), job resources (i.e., training, job autonomy, instrumental communication, and supervision), and demographic characteristics on workplace fear of victimization. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analysis...

Organizational trust is an important workplace factor for organizations and their employees. There are different types of organizational trust, with coworker, supervisor and management trust being major ones. Yet, limited research has examined how organizational trust is associated with the work attitudes of correctional officers, such as job invol...

This study employed organizational justice theory to examine the influence of employee perceptions of distributive, procedural, and interactional justice on whether employees trust their supervisors and management. Analysis of survey results from 322 employees of a state prison located in the Southern United States indicate that procedural and inte...

In 2016, an estimated 107,400 veterans were incarcerated in the U.S. (Maruschak et al., 2021), comprising part of the population known as “justice-involved veterans,” veterans involved in the criminal justice system. The current study explores the influence military training had on the way justice-involved veterans “do time” in prison. In sharp con...

Drawing from organizational justice theory, this study examined the mediating effects of organizational trust on the association between organizational justice (i.e. in the forms of distributive and procedural justice) and the job attitudes of job satisfaction and organizational commitment in a sample of 220 correctional staff employed full-time at...

This study examined the influence of job demands (role ambiguity, role conflict, role overload and dangerousness) and job resources (job variety, supervisor structure and training views) on employee perceptions of procedural justice, general perceptions of distributive justice, and specific perceptions of distributive justice. Using a sample of 160...

In this study, data were used from 322 employees at a large medium- and maximum-security prison in the Southern United States to examine the influence of job demands (dangerousness of the job, role overload, role ambiguity) and job resources (employee input into decision-making, instrumental communication, job variety) on employee job involvement....

Using data from the U.S. Department of Education National Center for Education Statistics Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), longitudinal trends in graduate degree completion rates for Hispanic and White students were analyzed over a period of 17 years (2002–2019). The results indicated that there was a significant positive lin...

Private prison staff are a valuable resource, and they can be affected by various workplace variables. The effects of organizational justice on counterproductive staff behaviors in a sample of correctional staff at a private prison were examined using organizational-justice theory. Specifically, the association of distributive and procedural justic...

The study investigated differences and similarities in criminal thinking between men and women attending a multi-site Batterer Intervention Program (BIP). Overall, rates of criminal thinking were low. However, the results of the multivariate analyses suggest that, after controlling for demographic characteristics (i.e., race, ethnicity, education,...

The study compares incidents of intimate femicide-suicide (IFS) to incidents of intimate femicide without suicide (IFWS) that occurred in Italy between 2015 and 2019 and examines the influence of situational, sociocultural, and individual characteristics. Findings from the multivariate analysis show that incidents of IFS are more likely than incide...

Because correctional facilities are closed environments, perceptions are largely informed by the media. Tours of correctional facilities can be utilized to expose students to the reality of corrections. We explored the impact of media on students’ perceptions using Experiential Learning Theory and Cultivation Theory. Perceptions of inmates and corr...

The study employs a sample of 584 men and women referred to a multisite BIP and investigates IPV risk factors and stressors. The study also identifies unique risk factors and stressors in association with both IPV perpetration and IPV victimization. The findings show that women in the sample were more likely than men to report IPV victimization but...

This essay is a commentary on the U.S. Federal government response to the 2020 COVID-19 outbreak. The focus is on the response of the Trump Administration during the first 3 months of the outbreak, specifically the period between January 20, 2020, and May 15, 2020. The following question is addressed: To what extent was the strategy implemented by...

Jail and prison tours have become an important educational tool in many criminal justice programs. This study uses an inductive approach to explore student perceptions of the physical and social environment of jails and prisons following tours of correctional facilities. The study draws from Experiential Learning Theory (ELT) which supports the foc...

Social interventions are subject to unanticipated and unintended consequences because gaining comprehensive information about a situation can be costly. In addition, social actors face many challenges due to society's need of immediate intervention to eliminate visible social imbalances. The assessment of negative consequences, however, might lie o...

Using the empirical powers of theories of intersectionality, the study investigates the association between students’ demographics (such as gender identity, race, ethnicity, age, and socioeconomic status) and sexual violence victimization. An anonymous survey was employed to collect data from a cluster random sample of 966 students attending face-t...

Children may say they want to grow up to be a police officer, but we typically do not hear children saying they want to work in a prison or jail when they grow up. Given negative media attention of correctional facilities, it may not be surprising that many students enter criminal justice programs uninterested in correctional careers. Correctional...

With increasing focus on military veterans returning to civilian life and the multitude of difficulties they face, a population of increasing concern is the justice-involved veteran. In this manuscript we provide a thorough review of extant literature on incarcerated veterans and veterans involved in specialized correctional programmes, exploring t...

Recent studies indicate domestic violence rates in military families have increased dramatically in the last decade, raising concerns among academics and service providers alike. Using survey data from a Batterer Intervention Program (BIP) offered in several counties of the Midwest, we conducted a multivariate comparison of veteran and non-veteran...

We develop a theoretical commentary on the implementation and expansion of the ban the box (BTB) movement as a legal response to the formal and informal discrimination ex-offenders face every day in the labor market, in particular the racial impacts of such policies. We first provide a thorough overview of the numerous laws that have created barrie...

Students’ negative perceptions of inmates are a challenging aspect of teaching criminal justice. Scholars suggest exposing students to the criminal justice system may provide a realistic approach to understanding offenders. Prison tours have become a viable solution for instructors who want to create such exposure, but contrasting perspectives on t...

As a consequence of the War on Drugs, many women experience repeated incarceration. Extant research on habitual offending has mostly focused on male offenders. Drawing upon research on female and male offenders’ recidivism, traditional theories of female criminality and the premises of GST, social control, and differential association theories, we...

After decades of “tough on crime” policies, the number of ex-offenders in the USA has increased dramatically. Felony convictions limit ex-offenders’ opportunities in the labor market. In an effort to reduce these barriers, many US jurisdictions have implemented closed records policies such as “ban the box.” By limiting employers’ access to applican...

Returning military troops have garnered attention, but there is little focus on veterans in the correctional setting. Approximately 11% of U.S. inmates are veterans, and there are striking similarities between military and prison life. Because veterans have experience with institutional settings, one hypothesis is that incarcerated veterans will be...

This paper focuses on barriers to ex-offender employment and the potential impact of ‘ban the box’ policies that restrict employers' access to criminal history records. We argue policies aimed at creating closed records systems may inadvertently cause statistical discrimination because employers become prone to discriminate against applicants with...

The use of service-learning courses has evolved in the United States in the past three decades. While the most traditional approach to service learning focuses on what universities and colleges can do for the community (Speck and Hoppe 2004), a more contemporary approach has transformed service learning into a holistic experience that engages educa...

This paper focuses on inmates' misconduct as a measure of prison adaptation. By using a contextual framework that draws on the descriptive and explanatory powers of the classical theories of adaptation to prison, the “importation” and “functionalist” models, this paper investigates whether inmates' participation in religious programs, work assignme...

Parental deployment can have a significant impact on children's psychological, behavioral, and physical well-being. Although most children are resilient, researchers agree that long periods of separation might be a significant source of stress for parents and children in military families. This paper provides a review of the literature of the effec...