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Studies have revealed that some, but not all, jail custody officers fear workplace victimization. The job demands-resources theoretical model holds that job demands result in strain, increasing the chances of negative outcomes, such as job burnout, decreased job satisfaction, and fear of being harmed on the job. This framework also contends that job resources help reduce psychological strain, and, in turn, reduce negative outcomes, including fear of victimization at work. Survey results from 587 custody officers from a large county correctional system in Florida were analyzed in order to determine how various workplace demand and resource variables were related to perceived danger at work. Our multivariate analytical models revealed that the resource variables of instrumental communication, perceptions that infectious disease among inmates being properly handled, perceptions that inmates were properly controlled, perceptions that security was proper, and supervisor support were related to decreased perceptions of danger, while formalization (a resource variable) and role strain (a demand variable) were related to increased perceptions of danger. Overall, there was partial support for the job demands-resources model, with some variables having significant effects and others not. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While recent studies have demonstrated several negative effects of work-family conflict for correctional employees, none have examined the impact of work-family conflict on the organizational citizenship behaviors of correctional personnel. To help fill this gap in the research, this study examined the relationship between four types of work-family conflict and organizational citizenship behaviors for 160 correctional staff of a private Midwestern maximum security prison for juveniles adjudicated as adults. Based on the job demands model of person-environment fit theory, strain-based conflict, time-based conflict, behavior-based conflict, and family-on-work conflict were predicted to relate negatively with employee organizational citizenship behaviors. Results supported only two of the four predictions. While both strain-based conflict and family-on-work conflict were negatively associated with organizational citizenship behaviors, time-based conflict and behavior-based conflict had non-significant relationships. Discussion focuses on the comparative levels of strain produced by the different types of work-family conflict and ways that correctional agencies can minimize work-on-family conflict strain to enhance the organizational citizenship behaviors of their personnel. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Satisfied correctional officers are important for the successful operation of a prison. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis (HMR) was performed on survey data from 501 non-supervisory correctional officers employed in a Southern prison system. After controlling for factors such as demographic variables, role conflict, job stress, peer support, and supervisory support, correctional officers who perceived inmates as devious were less satisfied with their jobs; however, age and supervisory support positively influenced job satisfaction, whereas job dangerousness and role conflict negatively influenced job satisfaction. Although statistically significant, the association of perceptions of inmates on job satisfaction was small relative to the work environment. The results suggest that correctional administrators need to focus on the work environment, especially supervisory support, to improve correctional staff job satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are two fundamental models used to explain the attitudes and behaviors of correctional staff The first is the Importation Model, which holds that work attitudes are primarily shaped by factors that employees bring with them to the workplace, and the second is the Work Environment Model, which holds that employee work attitudes are primarily shaped by dimensions of the work environment. Most of the correctional staff literature on job satisfaction and organizational commitment has supported the Work Environment Model but not the Importation Model; however, most of the research on the Importation Model has focused on demographic characteristics, which tend to be weak measures of imported factors. This study examined the impact of work ethic and importance of money as importation factors, and trust in management, participation in management, and support by management as work environment factors, on the job satisfaction and organizational commitment among staff at a private Midwestern correctional organization. The findings provide support for both models. Specifically, work ethic and trust in management had statistically significant effects on job satisfaction, while work ethic, trust in management, and participation in management had significant effects on organizational commitment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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 fill this empirical void by examining whether job satisfaction and occupational stressors (in the forms of job stress, work-family conflict, role stress, and perceived dangerous) had any impact on the life satisfaction of correctional staff Based on a multi-variate analysis, we find that job satisfaction, job stress, work-family conflict, and dangerousness had significant effects on life satisfaction. An additional analysis of the effects of life satisfaction revealed a significant relationship to workers' turnover intentions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A growing body of research on organizational justice views indicates that distributive (i.e. perceived fairness of outcomes) and procedural justice (i.e. perceived fairness of procedures to reach outcomes) are linked to salient correctional staff outcomes, such as job stress, job involvement, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and life satisfaction; however, limited research investigates the relationships between workplace factors and the organizational justice views among prison staff. The current study investigated the relationships between organizational structure variables of instrumental communication, formalization, integration, and input into organizational decision-making with the procedural and distributive views of staff at a state-run U.S. prison. Data was from 257 staff who worked at a prison holding medium- and high-security convicted male offenders. Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression analysis indicated formalization, integration, and input were significantly positively correlated with procedural justice. Instrumental communication, however, was not significantly correlated with procedural justice. Input was a significant positive predictor of distributive justice, while instrumental communication, formalization, and integration were not significant predictors. Considerably more variance was explained in procedural justice compared to distributive justice views. The findings suggest that correctional administrators should be aware that input into decision-making is associated with prison staff’s views of both distributive and procedural justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]