Job Satisfaction in Correctional Officers
Current Situation
One of the enduring problems in modern law enforcement is the high rate of job dissatisfaction among correctional officers, which, anecdotally is even higher than job dissatisfaction rates in other law enforcement professionals. There are a number of factors believed to contribute to this job dissatisfaction, which, in turn, contributes to other problems for correctional facilities, such as high rates of employee turnover. Job dissatisfaction can also increase danger in the correctional facility environment because it might impact prisoner morale, may result in correctional officers not being sufficiently attentive to changes in prisoner attitude, and may make it difficult to keep staff adequately trained to respond to situations that develop within the correctional environment.
Obviously, all of these scenarios can result in an increased negative impact on job satisfaction for other employees, so that the problem becomes cyclical. What that suggests is that employee satisfaction will vary by correctional institute, and that high rates of employee job dissatisfaction are likely to result in job dissatisfaction in new employees. In order to determine whether this is true, it is important to investigate the correlation between job satisfaction levels when a new hire begins working at a correctional institution and that new hire's own self-reported job satisfaction after the end of a traditional probationary work period.
If there is the anticipated correlation between prevailing job satisfaction rates and new hires' self-reported job satisfaction rates, then it seems clear that job satisfaction is not simply about changing working conditions but also about changing employee perceptions of those working conditions. Therefore, it seems likely that fixing the level of job dissatisfaction in a correctional institution is not as simple as replacing staff members; instead, there has to be an effort to change all employee attitudes.
Problem Statement
Is the level of general employee self-reported satisfaction or dissatisfaction at the time that a new-hire is employed an accurate predictor of that newly hired employee's self-reported job satisfaction or dissatisfaction three months after the employee has been hired?
Research Objective
To determine whether the prevailing rates of job satisfaction or dissatisfaction at a correctional institution at the time that a new hire joins a company have an impact on the new hire's own self-reported job satisfaction.
Research Questions
What is the prevailing rate of job satisfaction at the time that a new hire begins his or her tenure at a correctional facility? Do job satisfaction rates vary according to job type or does job satisfaction seem fairly consistent across the facility? What is the new hire's self-reported job satisfaction after three months of employment?
Hypotheses
The prevailing rates of job satisfaction in a correctional institution will be predictive of a new hire's self-reported job satisfaction after three months in a new job in a correctional facility.
Part Two: Literature Review
Introduction
For those unfamiliar with correctional facilities, the idea that living conditions for inmates are actually a very important consideration may come as a surprise. However, while inmates may live in conditions that any person outside of a correctional facility would find burdensome, living conditions are a serious consideration for the employees and administrators who handle the day-to-day operations in those correctional facilities. They must ensure that prisoners live in environments that are as safe as possible, not only to ensure safe conditions for the inmates, but also for the employees.
Many of the factors that impact living conditions are beyond the control of correctional facility employees and administrators, such as prison overcrowding or lack of funding. However, employee satisfaction is one factor over which administrators can exercise some control. Employee satisfaction is important in a correctional facility because low rates of employee satisfaction can have a very negative impact on living conditions for prisoners. Correctional facility employees who are unhappy in their jobs may contribute to high employee turnover rates, increase the risk of prisoner abuse, make it less likely that employees will notice dangerous conditions in the facility, and otherwise compromise the living conditions in the facility. The result is that high employee job dissatisfaction could actually lead to dangerous conditions inside the correctional facilities, not only compromising job satisfaction but also putting correctional officers, inmates, and ultimately the public at risk.
The goal of the research project will be to examine different things that impact job satisfaction at correctional facilities. One of the most significant burdens that administrators face in the correctional environment is a consistent and pervasive lack of adequate funding. The lack of funding not only leads to overcrowded prison conditions and lack of resources for prisoners, but can also...
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