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Rehabilitation is a salient goal in the field of corrections. Correctional staff need to be supportive of rehabilitation efforts in order for them to be effective. Past studies that have examined correctional staff support for rehabilitation have produced conflicting results. Most studies have focused on personal characteristics, including age, gender, job position, tenure, education, marital status, prior military service, and race. To expand the area of inquiry and assess potential antecedents of the work environment regarding correctional staff support for inmate rehabilitation, this study examined the impact of the integrative work environment (i.e., dangerousness of the job, role stress, supervision, job variety, work-on-family conflict, family-on-work conflict, integration, instrumental communication, input into decision-making, organizational fairness, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment) on staff attitudes toward the treatment of offenders while controlling for the personal characteristics of gender, age, tenure, position, educational level, and race. The findings indicate that job variety, integration, and organizational commitment had positive associations with support for treatment of inmates, while work-on-family conflict had an inverse relationship. Correctional officers were less supportive of treatment than noncustodial staff. (Contains 2 tables.)

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]

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]

In the United States, institutional corrections is a major undertaking that requires substantial financial resources. Correctional staff are the essential element to ensuring the safety and security of these institutions, which house approximately 2.2 million adults. Thus, it is invaluable to explore work environment variables that contribute to their success. One area that has received scant attention is staff views of inmate medical care and their effect on job involvement and organizational commitment. This study focused on the effects of views concerning the proper handling of inmate infectious diseases, the quality of medical care provided to inmates, the timeliness of the responses to inmate medical needs, turnover of medical staff, and inmate medical privacy rights. Results indicate that proper handling of inmate infectious diseases and quality of medical care positively increase job involvement and organizational commitment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing from person–environment fit theory, the current study adds to recent empirical inquires that have considered how workplace factors affect jail staff. In doing so, the focus is on how perceptions of pay fairness effect the job stress, job involvement, and organizational commitment of jail personnel. Utilizing survey data from a large county correctional system in Orlando, Florida, the results of multivariate analyses reveal that staff that hold more favorable perceptions of pay fairness are more involved in their jobs and more committed to the overall organization. The implications of these findings for correctional research and practice are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In literature on correctional staff, one poorly understood antecedent of job stress and other negative outcomes is perceived danger from the job. Survey results from 272 staff at a state-run Midwestern maximum security prison were analyzed with Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) Regression to determine the relationships between personal/work environment variables and perceptions of job danger. Analyses revealed the effects of the personal variables were conditional on staff position (custody vs. non-custody). Irrespective of position, two of seven work environment variables studied (less input into decision making and more daily contact with prisoners) were related to greater perceived risk of harm from the job. Also, greater organizational formalization was related to greater perceived risk among custodial staff. Perceived danger from the job is a real issue, and the current results indicate workplace factors play a role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

The career stage theory postulates that employees go through different career stages, and each career stage has different effects on various outcomes, such as job satisfaction. There has been empirical support for the career stage theory from other disciplines, but there has been limited research relating to this theory to corrections. To expand the literature, the current study examined whether different career stages were significant predictors of job satisfactions, while including the personal characteristics and the workplace place variables among Texas correctional officers. The results supported the career state theory: job satisfaction was highest during the entry stage (0–2 years), but was lowest during the second career stage (2–5 years). In career stages three (5–15 years) and four (16+ years), job satisfaction rose. Possible interventions that correctional administrators can undertake to encourage job satisfaction from their staff during the second career stage are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Correctional staff job burnout is costly to all involved. As such, it has generated a growing body of research. This study reviewed 53 empirical studies of correctional staff burnout and two review articles published between 1981 and 2014. The majority of studies focused on staff working in a variety of institutional positions, fewer studies focused exclusively on the subgroup of correctional officers, and even fewer focused on a different subgroup. The majority of studies also involved staff at US government-run adult prisons. Most but not all studies utilized Maslach’s Burnout Inventory. Research on the antecedents of job burnout among correctional staff is more common than research on the possible consequences or outcomes of job burnout. Interestingly, despite the empirical emphasis on antecedents of burnout, there has been almost no research on effective interventions designed to deal with correctional staff burnout. Based on this narrative review, significant gaps remain in the research on correctional staff burnout. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Prior research on correctional staff turnover intent and turnover generally assumes that staff are impacted by the workplace in a similar manner regardless of career stage. This study examined whether correctional officers (N = 2,621) with a Southwestern correctional agency differed in their level of turnover intent across different career stages, and whether the impact of work environment variables on turnover intent varied across career stages. Results indicated that turnover intent was lowest among staff with less than 1 year into their careers, and that the effects of work environment variables on turnover intent varied greatly across the 4 career stages. Commitment to the organization was the only work environment variable to be a significant predictor of intent to leave among four career stages, with a negative association in each of the four career groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trust is a valued resource of any organization and is a necessary component of a positive, healthy work environment. In corrections, the work environment is critical to ensure the safety and security of staff, inmates, and the community. The demands of correctional work can lead to job burnout, which has been linked to psychological and physical health problems, decreased work productivity, increased absenteeism, and heightened turnover intent and turnover. Thus, it is paramount for corrections to find methods that can alleviate job burnout effectively. Three types of burnout have been identified in the literature: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and a feeling of ineffectiveness. This study explored whether correctional staff trust in supervisors and management reduced burnout. Six hypotheses were proposed examining the three types of burnout and the two levels of trust. Results indicate that levels of burnout were lower when workers trusted their supervisors and management in five of the six hypotheses proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A gendered model of the effects of role stressors on job stress, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment was tested. Ordinary least squares regression analysis of survey data from correctional staff provided partial support for the proposition that men and women perceive and respond to the work environment differently. Work-family conflict was found to influence levels of job stress, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment among women but not among men. Conversely, role ambiguity, role overload, and perceived dangerousness influenced levels of job stress for men but not women. Furthermore, levels of role conflict and role ambiguity influenced levels of job satisfaction for men but not for women. These findings lend support to further development of gendered theoretical models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Working in corrections is not only a demanding job, but a socially important one. While a growing number of studies have examined how the work environment impacts the job stress, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment of staff, very few studies have examined how working in corrections impacts the life satisfaction of workers. The current study utilized OLS regression to examine the antecedents of life satisfaction among staff at a Midwestern private prison. Job satisfaction had a positive relationship with life satisfaction, while age, work on family conflict, family on work conflict, and job involvement all had statistically significant negative effects. Finally, perceptions of the level of financial rewards, job stress, organizational commitment, gender, race, educational level, tenure, supervisory status, position, marital status, and having children, all had non-significant associations with overall satisfaction with life. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

There is a large body of literature that strongly suggests that role stress is harmful to correctional staff. Past research has found that role stress is linked to lower job satisfaction, lower organizational commitment, greater job stress, and intention to quit. The bulk of the literature has looked at the consequences of role stress; this study examined the potential antecedents of role stress for correctional staff. While controlling for the shared effects of the personal characteristics of gender, age, position, tenure, educational level, race, and supervisory status, this study examined whether different aspects of the work environment (i.e., input into decision making, supervision, formalization, integration, job performance, and instrumental communication) were linked to role stress using survey data of correctional staff at a Midwestern prison. Ordinary least squares multiple regression analysis indicated that the personal characteristics of position and tenure had statistically significant associations with role stress. Specifically, noncustody staff and staff with higher tenure reported greater role stress than custody staff and staff with less tenure. With regard to the work environment variables, input into decision making, supervision, formalization, integration, and instrumental communication all had a significant negative relationship with role stress, whereas job performance feedback did not. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Correctional staff are instrumental in ensuring the success of any correctional institution; therefore, investigating how the work environment impacts correctional workers is essential. To determine the effects of supervisory consideration, supervisory structure, job variety, and perceptions of training on correctional staff job stress, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment, data from a survey of staff at a Midwestern private correctional facility were examined. The Ordinary Least Squares regression results indicate that each of the work environment factors had a significant impact on one or more of the three outcomes. Specifically, supervisory consideration and perceptions of training decreased job stress. Supervisory consideration, job variety, and perceptions of training had positive effects on job satisfaction. Finally, supervisory consideration, supervisory structure, job variety, and perceptions of training had positive relationships with organizational commitment. [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]

Correctional staff are the backbone of any correctional organization, and building organizational commitment among employees is critical for an effective organization. Although there is a small but growing body of literature on the antecedents and consequences of organizational commitment, there has been little discussion on the various types and levels of commitment and whether results differ depending on the form of commitment being measured. This study reviewed the three major types (i.e., affective, moral, and continuance) and two levels (i.e., agency and institutional) of organizational commitment. Multivariate analysis of survey results from 272 staff at a high-security prison in the Midwest revealed that the effects of the major forms of organizational structure (i.e., input into decision making, job autonomy, promotional opportunities, institutional communication, and organizational fairness) and job stress varied considerably depending on which form of organizational commitment was measured. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The number of private correctional facilities has increased rapidly during the past twenty years. While there is a growing body of literature on private correctional facilities, most of the focus has compared the efficiency and effectiveness of private versus public correctional institutions. The impact of the work environment on private prisons has been rarely studied. Staff are the most valuable resource for any correctional organization; hence, it is important to study how the work environment shapes the job stress, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment levels of private prison staff. Two important work environment factors are instrumental communication and integration. This study examined the effects of instrumental communication and integration on the job stress, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment of staff at a Midwestern private correctional facility. Using the survey response of 160 respondents, it was found that both instrumental communication and integration had significant effects on job stress, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last few decades, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of women entering the traditionally male-dominated field of corrections. During this time, researchers, using a variety of different methodological techniques, have attempted to disentangle the potential gender differences among correctional personnel. In building on this research, the following study surveyed correctional staff at a Midwestern high security state prison in the fall of 2000 in order to determine whether male and female correctional staff differed in their perceptions of the work environment, as well as their general attitudes toward their jobs. A total of 28 work environment indices were measured, including occupational attitudes not traditionally examined. Bivariate results indicated gender differences in perceptions of dangerousness, role ambiguity, role conflict, input into decision-making, job autonomy, supervision, punishment ideology, and job satisfaction; however, after controlling for age, race, education, position, tenure, and supervisory status, only dangerousness and job satisfaction remained statistically significant. The implications of these contemporary findings for correctional research and practice are also considered. [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]