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Two major forms of organizational trust are supervisor trust and management trust. Guided by the job demand-resources model, this exploratory study examined how the job demand variables of role conflict, role ambiguity, role overload, and fear of being victimized at work and the job resource variables of instrumental communication, job autonomy, job variety, and quality training were linked to both forms of organizational trust among staff at a private U.S. prison. Results showed that workplace variables predicted both types of trust and were generally stronger predictors than personal attributes. Moreover, resources played a greater role than job demands in shaping both supervisor and management trust. Among the demands, only role conflict was a significant negative predictor of supervisor trust and management trust. Instrumental communication, job autonomy, and job variety were significant positive predictors of supervisor trust. Job autonomy and job variety both had significant positive associations with management trust. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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 justice with turnover intent, sick-leave views, and absenteeism were tested while controlling for demographic characteristics (position, gender, age, tenure, and race/ethnicity). OLS regression models show that procedural justice was the strongest predictor and was negatively associated with all three measures of counterproductive behaviors; distributive justice was only predictive of turnover intent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Correctional staff are sometimes in fear of being injured on the job. Concerns about issues relating to inmate medical care could be related to feeling at risk on the job for staff. The current study explored how perceived inmate medical care issues were related to fear of being at risk on the job among staff at a large Southern US jail. The provided survey asked about staff about their concerns of being at risk and medical views dealing with if infectious diseases are handled correctly, if quality medical care was provided to inmates, if staff responded in a timely manner, if there was a high turnover of medical staff, and if inmate privacy rates put staff at risk. In a multivariate regression analysis, a view that inmate infectious diseases are handled correctly and quality medical care is provided were significantly related to lower levels fear of being in danger from the job, while the view that inmate medical privacy rights placed staff at risk had a positive effect. Views that staff respond quickly to inmate medical needs and that there is a high level of medical staff turnover both had nonsignificant effects on fear of being at risk at work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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 interactional justice—but not distributive justice—predict employee trust in both supervisors and management. These findings present important policy implications that suggest that the employing organization would benefit from having mechanisms in place to ensure that decisions follow consistent rules and strategies. Considering the relevance of employee trust to the organization, transparency in the use of pre-determined standards to allocate resources and rewards fairly needs to become a priority in institutions of corrections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Employee perceptions of fairness are a critical component of organizational justice, and empirical studies have shown that both distributive and procedural justice, the major dimensions of organizational justice, play a role in work performance and life satisfaction. In this study, we surveyed perceptions of organizational justice from 120 Nigerian prison staff and examined how it impacted their life satisfaction. The findings indicated both procedural and distributive justice were associated with higher levels of life satisfaction. Line staff had lower life satisfaction, but it was the only demographic variable to have a significant effect. As the costs of acting in a procedurally fair manner are minimal, interventions that increase perceptions of procedural justice are likely to improve staff's life satisfaction, a result that has clearly positive consequences for both employers and employees. Improving distributive outcomes, such as pay and benefits, are costlier but should also result in improved life satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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 employees at a high‐security prison, the regression analyses found that only demands of role conflict was inversely correlated with procedural justice and both distributive justice measures. Role ambiguity was inversely related to procedural but was not related to either dimension of distributive justice. Furthermore, dangerousness was inversely associated with distributive justice (both general and specific), but it was not correlated with procedural justice. Among the job resources, job variety was positively associated with procedural and both distributive justice measures. Supervisor structure was predictive of procedural but not distributive justice. Role overload, and training views had non‐significant relationships with all the justice measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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 a high-security prison in the U.S. Midwest. Ordinary least squares regression results indicated that participant perceptions of organizational trust fully mediated the association between procedural justice and job satisfaction, but only partially mediated the association between distributive justice and job satisfaction. Further, organizational trust fully mediated the association between both distributive and procedural organizational justice and staff commitment toward the organization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Burnout is a phenomenon commonly found in the workplace. When burnout is job-related, it is considered job burnout. Historically, job burnout has been most common among those who work in human services fields and who deal with stressful situations on a regular basis. Job burnout consists of three components: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and feelings of work ineffectiveness. While job burnout may be common, not all workers in stressful fields experience it, which indicates that there must be organizational or individual factors that limit the likelihood of job burnout for some workers. This study examined the impact of four job-related factors (job stress, job involvement, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment) on the three components of job burnout for correctional workers in a large, maximum-security prison in the Southern United States. The findings indicated that the four job-related factors were related strongly and in the predicted direction to two or three of the measures of job burnout. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current research study examined the effects of organizational justice on burnout among U.S. social workers in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. Specifically, the effects of perceptions of distributive and procedural justice on the burnout sub-domains of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization were explored (the third dimension of feeling ineffective at work was not measured). Low levels of distributive and/or procedural justice should lead to psychological strain for social workers, which can result in job burnout. Of the 450 distributed surveys, 255 usable ones were returned. Both distributive and procedural justice adversely affected the two burnout sub-domains of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization. Distributive justice had larger sized effects on emotional exhaustion compared to procedural justice. Distributive justice represents outcomes such as pay, benefit, and promotions, which tend to have a significant impact on social workers, who are often paid less than other professional occupations, resulting in psychological strain and emotional burnout. Both distributive and procedural justice had similar sized effects on depersonalization burnout. The current results underscore the need for organizational interventions by improving perceptions of distributive and procedural justice in order to reduce burnout. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fairness is a core concept in U.S. society, including in the workplace. Organizational justice theory holds that workers expect to be treated in a fair and just manner and that higher levels of organizational justice usually result in lower levels of withdrawal work behaviors, such as absenteeism and turnover intent, while lower levels of organizational justice perceptions are associated with higher engagement in withdrawal behaviors. The current study examined the relationship between organizational justice views, specifically distributive and procedural justice, and turnover intent, while controlling for the personal characteristics of age, gender, position, tenure, educational level, and marital status and the work variables of job stress and job involvement. Using the responses from 322 employees from a state prison located in the Southern region of the United States, procedural justice was observed to have a significant negative association with turnover intent, but distributive justice had a nonsignificant relationship. Job stress was associated with a significantly higher level of turnover intent, while job involvement was significantly associated with lower turnover intent. Among the personal characteristics, only age had a significant association, with older workers expressing lower turnover intent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of organizational justice refers to employee perceptions about whether the employing organization treats workers in a fair and just manner. Policing research has shown that officers' organizational justice views are associated with various salient outcomes (e.g., job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and misconduct). No research has been published on the relationship of justice views and the life satisfaction of police officers. The current preliminary study explored how distributive and procedural justice were related to life satisfaction based on self-reported survey data from 827 police officers from the state of Haryana in India. Factor analysis suggested that two variables represent procedural justice: one focused on the perceived fairness of procedures for evaluation and the other focused on the perceived fairness of the procedures for promotion decisions. Only one factor was needed for distributive justice. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analysis indicated that all three justice variables had significant positive associations with life satisfaction. The results suggest that enhancing distributive and procedural justice views of officers should increase the level of reported satisfaction with life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many correctional officers who work in close proximity with inmates are at a heightened risk of experiencing feelings of psychological distress. We analyzed 501 surveys collected from correctional officers within the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to identify characteristics of officers who are likely to exhibit signs of depression. Our findings reveal that female officers, as well as officers who work in higher custody levels, are more likely than other officers to report higher levels of depressive symptomatology. We also found that officers who experienced high levels of self-reported job-related stress were more likely to suffer from depression. Officers with attitudes favorable to the mistreatment of inmates also reported higher levels of depression. Officers who perceived their coworkers were engaging in boundary violations were no more or less likely to exhibit signs of depression. Given these findings, we conclude that organizational and supervisory support, coupled with positive incentives and employee assistance programs, may help mitigate the risks of depression for correctional officers, thereby making these salient staff more efficient and effective in the prison workplace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. We also controlled for demographic characteristics (gender, age, position, tenure, and educational attainment). Drawing on the job demands–job resources model, four separate equations were estimated to assess the influence of job demands and job resources both separately and jointly. Overall, job resources (specifically, employee input into decision-making and job variety) have a stronger influence on job involvement than do job demands. The findings indicate that to boost employee job involvement in correctional settings, employers must implement policies and practices that facilitate the sharing of job resources in the work environment. Implications for policy and future research are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most employees, including prison employees, want their employers to treat them fairly. Distributive justice (perceived fairness of outcomes) and procedural justice (perceived fairness of processes and procedures) are important dimensions of organisational justice. Limited research among correctional staff in the US suggests that views of distributive and procedural justice spill over and result in a strain‐based form of work‐family conflict. Strain‐based conflict occurs when work problems follow a person home and create conflict at home. Based on multivariate regression analysis of survey data from 120 Nigerian prison staff, distributive justice had significant negative effects on the strain‐based form of work‐family conflict. Contrary to findings among US staff, procedural justice did not have a similar significant association. The connection between views of organisational justice and strain‐based work‐family conflict appears to vary by nation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary purpose of the current study was to assess the role of organizational justice in understanding prison staff job stress. Specifically, the authors surveyed 322 correctional employees across two prisons located in Guangzhou, China to explore the effects of distributive, procedural, informational, and interpersonal justice on work stress. Results from ordinary least squares analysis revealed significant contributions from three dimensions of organizational justice in explaining stress from work among prison workers. Prison personnel who had higher perceptions of interpersonal, distributive, and procedural justice in the organization were less likely to report being stressed. In addition, men were more likely to report higher levels of work tension than women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study explored how three key work environment variables – input into decision-making, instrumental communication, and perceived quality of supervision – affected views of distributive and procedural justice among correctional staff (n= 322) at an unusual Southern prison. Results supported the premise that work environment variables influence the organizational justice perceptions of correctional staff; however, the effects of work environment on organizational justice perceptions differed, as only four of the six hypotheses were supported by the multivariate regression results. Specifically, input into decision-making and quality of supervision had positive effects on both distributive and procedural justice, while instrumental communication did not have a statistically significant relationship with either. The findings indicate that correctional administrators should focus on input into decision-making and quality of supervision in order to increase staff perceptions of organizational justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Correctional officers are a valuable and expensive resource for prisons. Working as a correctional officer is a unique experience; it involves controlling incarcerated individuals, and this results in demands that can wear on officers, increasing chances of suffering depression. Social support has been postulated to help buffer the negative effects of working in a prison and reduce depressive symptomatology. Using data from 501 correctional officers employed in a Southern prison system, this study examined the relationship between the three types of social support – family, coworker, and supervisor – on depression symptoms measured using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CESD) scale. Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression results indicated both family support and supervisor support were significantly related to the level of depression symptoms; coworker support, however, had a nonsignificant association. The results indicate efforts should be made to raise family support and supervisor support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public trust in the police is an important element of a healthy democracy. Concurrently, trust within the workplace is essential for a healthy organization, including the police. The main forms of organizational trust are management, supervisor, and coworker trust. However, there has been little research on how organizational trust affects police officers. This study examines the effects of these three forms of organizational trust on the job satisfaction, job involvement, and organizational commitment of police officers. The sample of 827 officers was drawn from two districts in Haryana, India. The findings indicate that all three forms of trust play an important role in improving the work attitudes of Indian police officers and that personal characteristics account for a lesser variance than the trust variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Very little research has been conducted on how workplace variables are associated with Chinese police job satisfaction. The present study fills this gap. Using responses from 589 Chinese police officers, the association of job satisfaction with workplace job demands (i.e. role ambiguity, role conflict, role overload, and perceived dangerousness of the job) and workplace job resources (training, job variety, job autonomy, and quality supervision) were tested. Ordinary least squares regression analysis indicated that role conflict, role overload, and dangerousness of the job all had non-significant associations with job satisfaction. Role ambiguity was a significant negative predictor, while training, job variety, job autonomy, and quality supervision all had significant positive relationships with job satisfaction. The results indicate that Chinese police administrators need to reduce role ambiguity and to improve training views, job variety, job autonomy, and quality supervision, which, in turn, should increase the level of satisfaction gained from the job by officers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Officers are a valuable resource for prisons across the globe. Working in corrections is a demanding job with a higher-than-average risk of job burnout. Most prison burnout studies have focused on staff working in Western prisons, particularly those in the U.S. These studies have generally found an association between work attitudes and burnout among prison officers. However, a key question is whether the associations are universal or contextual, varying by nation. The current study examined the link between the major work attitudes of job involvement, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment and the burnout dimensions of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and feeling ineffective at work among staff at two Chinese prisons. According to the results of ordinary least squares multivariate regression tests, job involvement, and job satisfaction had significant negative effects on emotional exhaustion, but commitment did not. Only job involvement had significant negative effects on depersonalization. Job involvement and organizational commitment had significant negative effects on feeling ineffective, while job satisfaction had non-significant effects. The results indicate that the major work attitudes are negatively linked to job burnout for the studied Chinese prison staff; efforts should be undertaken to build these work attitudes to reduce burnout since burnout is linked to negative consequences for officers, inmates, and the prison. Based on previous research and current findings, some of the effects of work attitudes appear to be universal, and others appear to be contextual. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Correctional institutions are manpower-intensive organizations, and organizational commitment is important for their successful functioning. This study uses the job demands model to examine effect of workplace variables on organizational commitment. Using a sample of 163 correctional officers from a prison in Haryana State, India, we find that job demands (fear of being hurt and work and role overload) have no significant effect of organizational commitment. All four components of job resources (instrumental communication, job autonomy, quality of supervision, and job variety) were found to be positively and significantly associated with organizational commitment. The study highlights the importance of adequate knowledge of job resources in trying to raise the affective commitment of correctional officers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Only one study among U.S. prison staff has explored the effects of work–family conflict and job burnout. To replicate the research to determine whether the results vary by nation, this study examined the effects of four types of work–family conflict (strain-based, time-based, behavior-based and family-based conflict) on three dimensions of job burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and feeling ineffective at work) among Nigerian correctional staff. Strain- and behavior-based conflict had significant positive effects on emotional exhaustion, but time- and family-based conflict did not. Family-based conflict was the only type of domain spillover with significant positive effects on depersonalization. Behavior-based conflict was the only type of work–family conflict with significant positive effects on feeling ineffective at work. Time-based and strain-based conflict were highly related to one another, which was attributed to time-based conflict being a contributor to strain-based conflict for Nigerian prison staff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

No corner of the world is completely safe from terrorist attacks. Both India and the United States have suffered horrific acts of terrorist-inspired violence. While views of terrorism vary for different reasons, culture certainly plays a role. A total of 918 undergraduate college students, composed of 434 Indian students and 484 U.S. students, were surveyed on their views of terrorism, responses to terrorism, and appropriate punishment of terrorists. Ordered ordinal regression results indicated a significant difference on 20 of the 26 items by nationality. Indian participants were more likely to express strong views on the problem of terrorism for society and to see terrorists as more similar to common criminals than their U.S. counterparts. Indian students were also more likely to feel that the government should do whatever was necessary to win against terrorists, while U.S. students were more likely to view winning against terrorists as difficult. Further, Indian respondents were more likely to feel that terrorists needed to be punished harshly and the death penalty would deter them, while U.S. respondents more likely to feel convicted terrorists should be able to appeal their sentences. The results suggest that culture plays a role in shaping terrorism views. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The bulk of the limited research on prison staff life satisfaction has been conducted in Western nations, particularly in the U.S., and only two studies have explored the relationship between organizational justice and life satisfaction, both of which only examined two of the four dimensions of justice. The current study investigated how all four dimensions of organizational justice (informational, interpersonal, distributive, and procedural) were related to life satisfaction among Chinese prison staff. The ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analysis indicated that informational, procedural, and distributive justice had significant positive effects on life satisfaction. Interpersonal justice had an insignificant effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prison work is inherently demanding, stressful, and frustrating. The literature supports that work-family conflict (including time-, strain-, behaviour-, and family-based conflict) occurs among prison staff. The psychological strains emanating from these conflicts affect not only staff members' work performance, but also their relationships with family and friends. This study sought to fill gaps in the literature in both practical and theoretical ways by exploring the effects of work-family conflict among 120 Nigerian prison staff. Multivariate regression analysis of survey data indicated that strain- and behaviour-based conflict showed significant, positive effects on job stress; however, time- and family-based conflict did not. Overall, the findings of the current study generally support the assertion that work-family conflict is a job stressor associated with prison staff stress and that strain- and behaviour-based conflict are stressors linked to higher job stress among staff in different nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study sets out to examine the effects of job demands and job resources on the job involvement of Nigerian correctional services staff. Job demands make the job more difficult and reduce positive work outcomes such as job involvement. Job resources make the job more pleasant and aid employees in doing their work, leading to increases in positive work outcomes, such as job involvement. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analysis of survey data from 120 correctional staff in a medium-security correctional center provides partial support for the job demands-resources model on job involvement for Nigerian correctional staff, with job resources showing greater effects than job demands in building job involvement. Specifically, the job demand variables were fear of victimization on the job and role overload, and the job resource variables were job variety, quality training, and job autonomy. Quality training and job autonomy had statistically significant effects on job involvement in a multivariate OLS regression analysis. Fear of victimization, role overload, and job variety had nonsignificant effects in the regression analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Views of organizational justice among correctional staff (i.e. whether they perceive that their employing organization treats them fairly) impact both staff and prisons. The two major dimensions of organizational justice are distributive justice (fairness of outcomes) and procedural justice (fairness of processes and procedures). Limited research among correctional staff in the U.S. suggests that views of distributive and procedural justice spillover, which results in a strain-based form of work-family conflict. An ordinary least squares regression analysis of data collected from two prisons in southern China indicated that distributive justice had significant negative effects on the strain-based form of work-family conflict; however, contrary to findings among U.S. staff, procedural justice did not have a signification relationship with strain-based conflict. It appears that the connection between views of organizational justice and strain-based work-family conflict might vary by nation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trust is an essential component of effective organizations and may be especially important in corrections because of the unique challenges this work environment presents. In corrections, trust in both supervisors and the administration is critical to ensuring the safety and security of staff, inmates, and the community. Previous research has revealed important implications of organizational trust, but less is known about the workplace factors that shape organizational trust. Scholars have divided these workplace factors into job demands and job resources. Using data from 322 correctional staff (both custodial and non-custodial staff) working at a large prison in the Southern United States, this study tested the job demands-resources model on two types of organizational trust – supervisor trust and administration trust. Specifically, we examined three job demands – role ambiguity, fear of being victimized at work, and role overload – and three job resources – job variety, quality training, and autonomy. Ordinary Least Squares regression results showed that workplace variables predicted both types of organizational trust and were generally stronger predictors than were personal attributes. Moreover, job resources played a greater role than job demands in shaping both supervisor and administration trust. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The bulk of correctional staff life satisfaction research has focused on staff in Western nations, particularly the United States. The current study examined how workplace variables are related to life satisfaction among Nigerian correctional staff, and it used the Job Demands-Resources Model as a theoretical framework. This model postulates that workplace variables can be broken into job demands and resources. Job demands are workplace variables that cause strain. Job resources are workplace variables that help staff be productive and successful and help buffer job demands. Job demands tend to be associated with negative outcomes, such as job stress, and job resources tend to be associated to positive outcomes, such as life satisfaction. Data for this study came from staff at a prison located in southeast Nigeria. The job demand variables examined were role overload and fear of victimization at work, and the job resource variables were quality of training, job autonomy, and job variety, with the outcome variable being life satisfaction. In a multivariate Ordinary Least Squares regression analysis, fear of victimization had a nonsignificant relationship with life satisfaction, role overload had a negative relationship, and quality training, job autonomy, and job variety each had a positive associations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Life satisfaction is a positive overall feeling towards one's life and is an important factor for employees and their employers. There has been little research on life satisfaction of staff working at correctional institutions who play an important security role in the care, custody, and control of offenders. The current study explored how work environment variables are related to correctional staff life satisfaction using the Job Demands-Job Resources Model, which holds that job demands and job resources are two major categories of work environment variables. Job demands cause strain for employees, creating negative outcomes and reducing positive outcomes while job resources result in staff being productive and feeling good, increasing positive outcomes and lowering negative outcomes. The current study focused on the specific job demands of perceiving the job as dangerous, role conflict, role ambiguity, and role overload, and the job resources of instrumental communication, job autonomy, job variety, and quality of training. The data was collected from 160 completed questionnaires from all available full-time staff (N = 200) at a prison in the midwestern part of the United States. Using multivariate regression analysis, it was found that role ambiguity and role overload had negative effects on life satisfaction, and job variety and quality training had positive effects. While the effects of job demand and job resource variables differed depending on the aspect of the work environment being examined, the results overall supported the Job Demands-Job Resources Model in explaining life satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trust is a vital part of society and is critical for organizations. The main forms of organizational trust are management trust, supervisor trust, and coworker trust, each of which allows organizations to function and operate efficiently. This is particularly true for police agencies. Yet, few studies have examined how organizational trust affects police officers. The job of a police officer can be demanding, often resulting in heightened job stress. It is unclear whether organizational trust can reduce job stress or, conversely, whether low or non-existent organizational trust contributes to job stress. The current study explored the effects of management trust, supervisor trust, and coworker trust on job stress among Indian police officers, while also assessing the effects of job autonomy, views on quality training, role overload, role underload, and perceived dangerousness of the job. A sample of 827 police officers was drawn from two districts in the state of Haryana in India. Supervisor and coworker trust had statistically significant negative effects on job stress, while management trust had nonsignificant negative effects. Job autonomy and views on quality training also had significant negative effects, while perceptions of the job as dangerous and role overload had significant positive effects. Role underload had nonsignificant effects. The results indicate that building coworker and supervisor trust, increasing job autonomy, improving views on quality training, and reducing role overload and perceptions of the job as posing a risk should reduce job stress for police officers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organizational trust includes both supervisor trust and management trust. Additionally, the three main work attitudes are job involvement, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. The objective of this study was to explore the effects of the two types of trust on the three work attitudes with data from a survey of 255 U.S. social workers. In multivariate ordinary least squares regression, the effects of the two forms of organizational trust varied across the three work attitudes. Only management trust had a significant positive effect on job involvement, while both forms of trust had positive relationships with job satisfaction and affective organizational commitment. For job satisfaction, the effect sizes of both forms of trust were similar; however, for organizational commitment, management trust's effect was far greater than the effects of supervisor trust. The current findings support the overall contention that supervisor and management trust play important roles in shaping social worker job involvement, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment, and they also underscore the need for improving perceptions of supervisor and management trust among social workers. Future longitudinal research will be able to demonstrate the causal process of the effects of trust on the three work attitudes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study explored the effects of coworker, supervisor, and management trust on the job involvement, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment of Nigerian prison staff working in a prison in southeast Nigeria. In multivariate regression, only management trust was a significant positive predictor of job involvement. Supervisor and management trust, but not coworker trust, had significant positive associations with organizational commitment. All three dimensions of organizational trust had significant positive relationships with job satisfaction. These results suggest that both supervisory and management trust are important to correctional officers in Nigeria, which are similar to empirical research studies in the United States. The effects of trust may be universal among correctional staff across different cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Appropriate supervision strategies are the backbone of community corrections. The success of community supervision is dependent upon the attitudes of both officers and offenders. Despite this, research on offenders' attitudes toward community corrections supervision is surprisingly very limited. The current study investigated attitudes of officers and offenders toward and predictors of four different community supervision strategies based on data collected in Hubei, China, in 2103 and 2016. The study found that among demographics, community variables, and value factor, the mutual trust value factor was the most important predictor of community supervision strategies by both officers and offenders. Additional findings and policy implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research examining correctional staff indicates that there are far-reaching negative consequences related to job burnout, including, but not limited to, diminished physical and mental health, increased risk of substance use, and decreased job performance. One area that may contribute to correctional staff job burnout is work–family conflict, which occurs when work and home domains spill into one another, causing conflict and problems. Using a sample of Southern correctional staff, this study investigates whether the four major types of work–family conflict—time-based, strain-based, behavior-based, and family-based—influence the three recognized job burnout dimensions: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and feeling ineffective at work. The findings provide partial support for the notion that work–family conflict influences job burnout. These findings are contextualized in previous research with a full discussion of their implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research examining the effect of organizational justice on the correctional environment is typically limited to its consequences on various outcomes. Absent from this body of literature is how perceptions of organizational justice are formed among correctional staff. Filling this void and using data from a Midwestern correctional facility, the current study examines the impact of instrumental communication, integration, formalization, and input into decision-making on the distributive and procedural justice perceptions of correctional staff. With the exception of integration, all organizational structure variables were significantly related to both forms of organizational justice. These findings offer correctional administrators a low cost and practical solution for enhancing organizational justice through organizational structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prisons depend on their employees, and staffing a prison is expensive. Approximately 80% of a prison's budget is for staff wages and benefits. Prisons are not generally viewed as desirable places to work, thus recruiting and retaining correctional officers can be difficult. Work-related stress can negatively affect staff members' home lives, and home stress can make an employee distracted and endangered at work. Time-, strain-, behavior-, and family-based work–family conflicts were hypothesized to impact three work attitudes (job involvement, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment) negatively. Time-based conflict had no significant effects on any of the work attitudes. Strain-based conflict had significant negative effects on job satisfaction and organizational commitment but not job involvement. Behavior-based conflict had significant negative effects on all three work attitudes. Contrary to our hypotheses, family-based conflict had significant positive effects on all three. Work–family conflict is a significant work attitude-associated stressor for correctional staff; therefore, policy recommendations to address it are made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Life satisfaction is an important concept for both police and other law enforcement organizations. Past research on the spillover theory has found that higher life satisfaction results in better physical health, being more open-minded, improved effort, and longer life expectancy. The spillover theory holds what happens at work does not stay at work but spills over and affects a person's overall life. Workplace variables, particularly job stress, job involvement, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment do not just affect people at work, but also affect people's satisfaction with their overall lives. The current study examined how job stress, job involvement, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment were associated with life satisfaction among a sample of 827 police officers from the state of Haryana in India. In a multivariate ordinary least squares regression analysis, job stress had a significant negative effect on life satisfaction, whereas job involvement, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment had significant positive effects. The results suggest that police administrators should attempt to lower job stress and increase job involvement, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment among officers to raise their life satisfaction, which, in turn, should benefit the individual officers, the police agency, and the community being served. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Staff are essential to running safe and humane correctional institutions. To this end, staff sometimes need to report coworker misconduct. Doing so requires a propensity to engage in whistleblowing, a topic that has received very little attention in the criminal justice literature. Using results from the Work Experiences Questionnaire (WEQ), an instrument designed to measure various features of correctional work environments, we found several exploratory variables to be significantly associated with individual whistleblowing propensity. Specifically, male staff, White staff, and staff with college degrees had higher propensity scores. Increases in job satisfaction and organizational whistleblowing propensity were also related to greater willingness to report wrongdoing, whereas affective organizational commitment had a negative effect. To the extent replicated, such findings can guide policy and practice concerning the reporting of correctional staff wrongdoing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This preliminary study investigates the efficacy of the SPARK Mentoring Program, a mental health education intervention grounded the psycho-spiritual Principles of Universal Mind, Consciousness, and Thought for improving the well-being and perceptions for school climate of students at-risk for school failure. Students at-risk for academic failure were assigned to a treatment group (n= 75), and a waitlist comparison group (n= 34). Pre-and post-intervention, participants in both groups completed the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale, the Acceptance component of the Difficulties in Emotional Regulation Scale, and the Social and Emotional Learning, High Expectations, Caring Adults, and Peer Climate components of the Alaska School Climate and Connectedness Survey. Compared to the control group, students receiving this intervention (thirteen 45-60-minute sessions during regular school hours) reported improved mental health evidenced by a significant increase in mental well-being, state of mind, and hope for the future, and improved perceptions of school climate evidenced by a significant increase in conflict resolution, valuing academic success, and relational trust with teachers, peers, and school community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organisational commitment is an important concept in the field of corrections. The current study examined how workplace variables affected commitment among Nigerian correctional staff and compared the results to the findings of past studies of U.S. correctional staff. Specifically, the effects of the workplace variables of input into decision-making, quality training, job variety, quality supervision, perceived dangerousness of the job, and role overload were examined. Input, quality training, job variety, and quality supervision had significant positive effects on commitment. Dangerousness and overload had nonsignificant effects. As with past U.S. studies, the current findings indicate commitment to the organisation is stronger when staff are treated in a positive manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Staff are essential to running safe and humane correctional institutions. To this end, staff sometimes need to report coworker misconduct. Doing so requires a propensity to engage in whistleblowing, a topic that has received very little attention in the criminal justice literature. Using results from the Work Experiences Questionnaire (WEQ), an instrument designed to measure various features of correctional work environments, we found several exploratory variables to be significantly associated with individual whistleblowing propensity. Specifically, male staff, White staff, and staff with college degrees had higher propensity scores. Increases in job satisfaction and organizational whistleblowing propensity were also related to greater willingness to report wrongdoing, whereas affective organizational commitment had a negative effect. To the extent replicated, such findings can guide policy and practice concerning the reporting of correctional staff wrongdoing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Private security staff play an important role in protecting society, including those who work in private prisons. Working in a private prison is a demanding job. Staff are responsible to ensure that the correctional facility is safe, secure, and humane. Past research has found that organizational trust, in terms of supervisor and management trust, influences private prison staff in many outcome areas, such as job involvement, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, job stress, feeling at risk at work, and job burnout; however, there is a dearth of research on how workplace variables may contribute to organizational trust. The current study examined how the major forms of social support (family, coworkers, supervisor, and management) were related to supervisor trust and management trust among 160 staff at a private U.S. prison. Based on ordinary least squares (OLS) multivariate regression, the results indicated coworker, supervisor, and management support each had significant positive effects on supervisor trust, with supervisor support having the largest effect. In another OLS multivariate regression analysis, family, supervisor, and management support had significant positive effects on management trust, with management support having the largest effect. The findings suggest that private prison administrators should consider increasing all four forms of social support in order to raise both supervisor and management trust. It would be a valuable investment in staff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some correctional officers end their careers in disgrace when they engage in acts of cruelty against the very inmates they are paid to protect. In the present study, we administered 501 questionnaires to prison guards within the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in order to identify characteristics of officers who may possess attitudes favorable to the mistreatment of inmates. We found that younger, male officers, who reported being dissatisfied with their jobs, were at a higher risk of ignoring wrongful acts against prisoners. Officers who lacked family support at home, as well as those who lacked supervisory support at work, were also more likely to tolerate acts of abuse or incivility toward offenders. Finally, officers who perceived their coworkers were engaging in staff-inmate boundary violations were more likely to accept the maltreatment of inmates than their peers. We posit these prison guards, who sensed their coworkers were crossing over to the offenders' side, may have turned a blind eye toward acts of officer-on-inmate maltreatment in an attempt to demarcate a line between the keeper and the kept. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Staff are the most vital resource for any correctional facility. As corrections is a very expensive budget item in the U.S., finding and keeping dedicated employees is essential. Organizational commitment refers the bond between correctional staff and their institution. A strong bond is essential for the safety and security of both employees and inmates, as well as ensuring that the institution runs effectively. This review explores past research on three different types of organizational commitment (affective, moral, and continuance), in order to summarize past results and to reveal areas remaining unexplored. This paper examines both the antecedents and outcomes of organizational commitment. Through a systematic review of past studies, we have identified both positive and negative workplace factors that influence organizational commitment. In addition, we report how organizational commitment affects various outcomes, such as burnout and turnover intent. Understanding how to increase staff commitment can provide a blueprint for administrators to enhance correctional operations and employee satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the issue of trust is theoretically essential for the effective operation of correctional organizations, few researchers have examined how the different types of trust are related to salient outcomes for staff. In this study, we examined the effects of coworker, supervisor, and management trust on the job involvement, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment of 322 Southern U.S. correctional staff. The types of workplace trust, however, varied in their effects. Specifically, multivariate analysis indicated only management trust had a significant positive effect on job involvement, but both coworker trust and management trust had significant positive effects on job satisfaction, whereas both supervisor trust and management trust had significant positive effects on organizational commitment. The current findings support the overall contention that workplace trust plays an important role in shaping prison staff job involvement, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. The results underscore the need for improving perceptions of trust in the workplace, particularly management trust. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Correctional staff are a necessary and valuable resource for correctional institutions, in both Western and Nonwestern nations; however, studies of correctional staff in Nonwestern nations, particularly those in Africa, are lacking. Improving the job satisfaction and organizational commitment of these staff are imperative, as both of these job attitudes have been linked to many salient beneficial outcomes. Most of the existing empirical research on correctional staff organizational justice explores only the effects of procedural and distributive justice and ignores interpersonal justice. Additionally, there has been little research on how procedural, distributive, and interpersonal justice affect correctional staff in Nonwestern correctional organizations. The current study explored the effects of all three forms of organizational justice on the job satisfaction and organizational commitment of staff at a medium security prison in southeast Nigeria. Based on Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression, all three forms of justice had significant positive effects on commitment. Procedural and interpersonal justice had positive effects on job satisfaction, while distributive justice had nonsignificant effects. Correctional administrators need to be aware the importance of procedural, distributive, and interpersonal justice and attempt to improve perceptions of these organizational justice variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High job involvement has been shown to result in many favourable outcomes, including higher job satisfaction, increased work performance, and improved life satisfaction. Organisational justice, which includes the concepts of distributive and procedural justice, refers to the perception that the employing organisation treats employees in a fair and just manner. This study used survey data from 827 police officers from the Indian state of Haryana to explore how distributive and procedural justice affect job involvement. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analysis indicated that both components of procedural justice (promotions and evaluations) were positively related to, and significant predictors of, job involvement; however, distributive justice did not have a significant effect in the multivariate analysis. We examine the policy implications of these findings towards achieving the ends of improved organisational performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organizational justice is important for most employees. Distributive justice (fairness of outcomes) and procedural justice (fairness of processes to reach outcomes) are two major dimensions of organizational justice. Limited research has examined how perceptions of the distributive and the procedural types of justice are linked with job stress of correctional staff, and the vast majority of this limited research has been conducted with U.S. staff. The current study examined how these dimensions of organizational justice are associated with job stress among Nigerian correctional staff. Findings from a survey of 120 staff members from a correctional institution in Southeast Nigeria showed a significant relationship between organizational justice and job stress. Contrary to a similar study in the United States that found that distributive justice had more impact on correctional job stress, employee perceptions that organizational processes and procedures were fair and transparent were associated with a reduced level of stress in Nigeria. One implication of the study findings is that the impact of the distributive and procedural types of justice on staff morale and stress may be attributed more to environmental context and situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]