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The job characteristics of job stress, supervision, job variety, and job autonomy have been theorized to affect the job satisfaction and organizational commitment of correctional staff members. Most of the research to date has focused on the impact of these variables on job satisfaction, with little attention being paid to organizational commitment. To determine the effects of these job characteristics on correctional staff members' job satisfaction and organizational commitment, data from a survey of 272 employees at a midwestern correctional facility were examined using ordinary least squares regression. All four job characteristics had significant effects on correctional staff members' job satisfaction. Only job stress and supervision had statistically significant effects on organizational commitment. Moreover, job satisfaction had the greatest effect on correctional staff members' organizational commitment. Additionally, the effects of the job characteristics differed among various groups of correctional staff members.

The nucleus of any correctional organization is its correctional staff. There are expected in-role behaviors and duties of the staff, but extra-role behaviors (referred to as organizational citizenship behavior) also are important for correctional organizations. However, there has been little research on correctional staff organizational citizenship behavior. Based on social exchange theory, organizational justice should be important in shaping the organizational citizenship behavior of correctional staff. Distributive and procedural justice are two salient dimensions of organizational justice. Survey data from staff at a private prison indicated that procedural justice had a significant positive relationship with organizational citizenship behavior, but distributive justice had a nonsignificant association.

The work environment of corrections has received a great deal of attention, with several empirical studies focusing on the causes and consequences of employee job stress and job satisfaction. Researchers have recently begun to explore the impact of medical concerns in correctional settings, though most of this research has focused on prisons or inmates' perception of the problem. As American jail populations continue to grow as part of what has been referred to as 'mass imprisonment', it seems likely that already deficient medical services will suffer, impacting not only inmates, but jail personnel as well. Unfortunately, the nature of these problems (and effects) is relatively unknown. The current study seeks to fill a research void by examining the degree to which jail staff perceive medical issues as problematic in their work setting, as well as the role that such concerns play as a cause of both job stress and satisfaction. Using survey data collected from a large county jail system in Florida, the findings suggest that medical issues are a concern among jail personnel, though only a few of these issues explain job stress and satisfaction.

Abstract
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.

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.

AbstractHigh 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.

While both forms of organizational justice are important, the empirical literature indicates that procedural justice generally has wider and greater effects on job attitudes compared with distributive justice. Regression analysis of self-reported survey data from 322 staff at two Chinese prisons in Guangzhou suggests that, while both forms of organizational justice were important for Chinese correctional staff's organizational commitment, distributive (but not procedural) justice had significant positive associations with both job involvement and job satisfaction. This emphasis on distributive justice differs from what has been empirically found for U.S. correctional staff.

AbstractJob stress is the psychological tension, distress, and anxiety caused by stressors at work, and job stress is linked to numerous negative outcomes. While the nature of working with inmates can cause stress, work environment variables also contribute to the job stress of prison staff. The current study used the job demands‐resource model as a theoretical guide to explore the effects of job demand variables (that is, perceived dangerousness of the job, and role overload) and job resource variables (that is, supervision, job variety, instrumental communication, and job autonomy) on the job stress of staff at a medium‐security prison in Southeast Nigeria. Perceived dangerousness of the job and role overload increased stress from the job while supervision reduced job stress. Job variety, instrumental communication, and job autonomy did not have significant positive effects on job stress. The results partially supported the job demands‐resources model; however, specific work environment variables varied in terms of their statistical significance. Prison administrators need to be aware of the contribution that work environment variables have on job stress and need to make changes to reduce job stress among prison staff.

Abstract: In any nation, correctional staff are the greatest asset of any correctional facility. In an era where rising costs, shrinking budgets, and personnel shortages are common, it is increasingly important to provide a positive work environment to ensure worker stability. The research indicates that job burnout is a negative response that is influenced by the work environment. This study examined the effects of organisational structure on emotional burnout among correctional staff at a state‐run prison. Promotional opportunity, integration, formalisation, instrumental communication, and input into decision making are the major forms of organisational structure. In addition to the above forms of organisational structure, the amount of daily contact and the personal characteristics of tenure, position, educational level, race, age, gender, and supervisory status were included as independent variables. In a multivariate analysis, supervisory status, degree of inmate contact, promotional opportunity, formalisation, instrumental communication, and input into decision making all had statistically significant associations with emotional burnout. The results support the postulation that organisational structure influences the emotional burnout of correctional staff.

Burnout, a syndrome caused by excessive strain and psychological exhaustion, comprises the dimensions of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and feelings of being ineffective. Survey results from 160 correctional staff at a maximum security private prison in the Midwest were used to compute ordinary least squares regression equations in order to reveal the effects of burnout on the outcomes of life satisfaction, turnover intent, and absenteeism. Ineffectiveness was linked with none of the three outcomes. Depersonalization was linked with increased turnover intent and more frequent absenteeism, and emotional exhaustion was linked with all three outcomes. The results differed somewhat between female and male staff and between correctional and noncorrectional officers.

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.

Despite greater acceptance of gay rights and relationships in recent decades, significant homophobia still exists in the U.S. population. There are consistent demographic differences in levels of homophobia; specifically, men, older persons, less educated persons, and conservatives tend to be more homophobic than women, younger persons, more highly educated persons, and liberals. Additionally, there is a perception that Blacks are more homophobic than Whites, and that this difference is because of the importance of religion in the Black community, another factor frequently associated with homophobic attitudes. This perception has not been empirically tested to any great extent. In the current study of 551 Midwestern college students, both independent t-test results and ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analysis find that there are no significant racial differences between Black and White students in indexes measuring views toward, rights for, and willingness to socialize with gays and lesbians. Gender is a significant predictor of homophobia for both groups, although age and measures for the importance of religion are significant predictors for White students only.