Satisfied Correctional Staff (original) (raw)
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Criminal Justice and Behavior, 2002
During the past decade, there has been increasing pressure on correctional agencies to attract and keep quality staff. Raising worker job satisfaction is seen as a fundamental way of decreasing turnover. There has been a considerable amount of research in the area of the possible causes of correctional staff job satisfaction and, to a lesser extent, the possible consequences of job satisfaction. However, due to the numerous studies, some with conflicting results, it is difficult to understand clearly the factors associated with job satisfaction. A review of the literature is presented to provide a better understanding of correctional staff job satisfaction. Based on this review, correctional administrators are urged to concentrate more on improving the work environment rather than focusing on correctional staff characteristics.
A further examination of antecedents of correctional staff life satisfaction
The Social Science Journal, 2009
... d Department of Criminal Justice, HH 3016, Stop # 119, The University of Toledo, Toledo, OH 43606, USA. e Department of Counselor Education and School Psychology, HH 3100, Mail Stop 119, The University of Toledo, Toledo, OH 43606, USA. ...
Journal of Crime and Justice, 2005
During the past twenty years, there has been significant growth in the literature on correctional staff Much of this literature has examined how the work environment helps shape the job satisfaction of correctional employees. Conversely, little empirical attention has been devoted to the broader concept of life satisfaction. The current study attempts to $11 this empirical void by * The authors thank Janet Lambert for editing and proofreading the paper. The authors also thank the anonymous reviewers for their comments and suggestions. Nancy Hogan and Eugene A. Paoline III contributed equally to the paper. Downloaded by [University of Central Florida] at 13:24 11 June 2014 2 Journal of Crime &Justice examining
American Journal of Criminal Justice, 1999
Over the past twenty years, several empirical studies have examined the consequences of job satisfaction among correctional staff. When looking at worker behavior in other disciplines, though, it is commonplace to include both job satisfaction andeorganizational commitment. However, very few studies about correctional staff behavior include both concepts. This paper discusses job satisfaction and organizational commitment, and addresses the link between these concepts as it relates to correctional staff attitudes and behaviors. Further, a discussion of measurement issues and recommendations for future research is presented.
Prison Wardens' Job Satisfaction
The Prison Journal, 1993
Using a national sample, the authors explore the level and determinants of prison wardens' job satisfaction. The data revealed that, both absolutely and compared with other occupational groups, wardens had a high level of job satisfaction. In general, individual characteristics, organizational conditions, previous work experiences, and a prison's regional location did not influence satisfaction scores. Dimensions of the work role, however, were significantly related to job satisfaction. Wardens were more satisfied who had supportive relations, emphasized human services to inmates, and exercised administrative autonomy within their prison.
Criminal Justice Review, 2008
As staff performance is vital to the survival of correctional institutions, much empirical attention has been paid to studying the causes and consequences of their attitudes and behaviors. The current study adds to this body of knowledge by examining the factors that explain three central occupational attitudes-job stress, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. More specifically, using survey data collected from a large county correctional system in Orlando, Florida, this research assesses the impact of key demographic, job, and organizational characteristics within and across jail staff attitudes toward job stress, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. This article finds that the more powerful predictors of each of these attitudes are job and organizational characteristics. Among the dependent variables, job stress has an inverse relationship with job satisfaction, and job satisfaction had a powerful positive association with organizational commitment. production of inanimate objects, or providing services to willing clients or customers. Correctional organizations deal with inmates, many of whom are violent and being held against their will (Jayewardene & Jayasuriya, 1981). Because of the complexities of dealing with the unique correctional environment, staff are critical. In fact, correctional organizations usually succeed or fail because of their employees' performance. Satisfied, committed staff, who do not suffer from undue job stress, can help a facility become a model correctional organization. Conversely, overly stressed, unhappy, and uncommitted staff can lead to failure and disaster for a correctional organization.
The effect of job involvement on correctional staff
Professional Issues in Criminal Justice, 2008
The driving force of corrections is the staff of correctional facilities. It is important to understand how the work environment shapes the attitudes of correctional staff; yet, the effect of job involvement on correctional employees has received little, if any, attention. Most of the research to date has focused on job stress and job satisfaction among correctional staff. Only recently has there been research on other important work attitudes, such as job involvement. Job involvement may have important effects on salient work outcomes. Therefore, there is a need to explore how job involvement may influence correctional staff job stress, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, life satisfaction, turnover intentions, family-on-work conflict, and work-on-family conflict. By using data acquired from a survey of staff of a state-run correctional facility in the Midwest, the researcher examined the effects of job involvement on correctional staff job stress, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, life satisfaction, turnover intentions, family-on-work conflict, and work-on-family conflict. After controlling for gender, age, tenure, position, educational level, race, and supervisory status, the researcher conducted a multivariate analysis, which indicated that job involvement had a statistically significant positive relationship with job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and both forms of work-family conflict. Job involvement was observed to have non-significant direct effects on correctional staff job stress, life satisfaction, and turnover intentions. Work in corrections is often a hard, demanding job that usually holds little prestige in society, but it also can be a rewarding experience. "Few other organizations are charged with the central task of supervising and securing an unwilling and potentially violent population" (Armstrong & Griffin, 2004, p. 577). Armstrong and Griffin further contend that "correctional institutions are unique work environments in both context and purpose" (2004, p. 577). Further, corrections occupies an important place in the criminal justice system as well as in society (Goodstein & MacKenzie, 1989). Due to the importance of corrections in society and the criminal justice system, a growing body of research involves correctional officers. This research is required to understand how correctional staff influence the organization and, in turn, how the correctional organization affects the workers. Correctional staff are the heart and soul of any correctional organization. Staff are responsible for myriad tasks and responsibilities that ensure that the organization meets its goals of providing a safe, humane, and secure environment. Correctional organizations succeed (or fail) based on their employees. Archambeault and Archambeault point out that "correctional workers represent the single most important resource available to any correctional agency or institution in attempting to accomplish its mission, goals, and objectives" (1982: xxii). Correctional staff are the driving force of any correctional organization. The correctional staff literature to date has focused mainly on the effects of work environment on the attitudes and behaviors of correctional staff, particularly on the antecedents of job stress, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. While many studies have focused on antecedents of work factors involving correctional staff, not all possible antecedents have been examined. The concept of job involvement has received very little attention in the correctional literature. This oversight is salient. Job involvement has been theorized to be the force that helps shape many employee and organizational outcomes. Diefendorff, Brown, Kamin, and Lord argue that job involvement is "a key factor influencing important individual and organizational outcomes" (2002, 93). Furthermore, Brown contends that "increasing job involvement can enhance organizational effectiveness and productivity by engaging employees more completely in their work and making work a more meaningful and fulfilling experience" (1996, 235). Outside the field of corrections, job involvement is theorized to be an antecedent of job stress, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, life satisfaction, turnover intentions, and work-family conflict (Brown, 1996). Nevertheless, due to a lack of empirical exploration in the correctional literature, there is a question of what, if any, effects job involvement has on correctional staff job stress, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, life satisfaction, turnover intentions, and work-family conflict. This preliminary study examines an empirical void in the correctional literature: the effects of job involvement on correctional staff. Specifically, it examines the effect of job involvement by means of a multivariate analysis, while controlling for the personal characteristics of gender, age, tenure, position, educational level, race, and supervisory status, on correctional staff job stress, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, life satisfaction, turnover intentions, and work-family conflict. Literature Review Job involvement is the degree of importance an individual assigns the job in his or her life (i.e., central life interest) (