NCJ Number
186993
Journal
Journal of Crime and Justice Volume: 23 Issue: 234 Dated: 2000 Pages: 69-93
Editor(s)
J. M. Miller
Date Published
2000
Length
25 pages
Annotation
This study employed survey data from a sample of detention officers in Florida to assess the effects of anxiety, job-related stress, and job satisfaction on the inclinations of detention officers to quit their jobs.
Abstract
Data were obtained from self-administered questionnaires given to detention deputies, corporals, and sergeants employed in a county jail serving a large metropolitan community in west-central Florida. Of 352 usable questionnaires, 280 were completed by detention deputies, 41 by corporals, and 31 by sergeants. The questionnaire included eight items measuring the inclinations of detention officers to quit their jobs. Respondent job satisfaction was measured by a 36-item additive scale. Ordinary least squares regression models were employed to assess the effects of job satisfaction, job-related stress, and trait-anxiety on the inclinations of detention officers to quit their jobs, while controlling for the influence of a variety of socio-demographic and work experience variables. Results showed anxiety was a significant predictor of job-related stress, which was a significant predictor of job dissatisfaction. In turn, job dissatisfaction was the strongest predictor of a detention officer's inclination to quit his or her job. Implications of the findings for improving the work environment of detention officers are discussed. An appendix lists items used in the construction of trait-anxiety, job-related stress, and job satisfaction scales. 39 references and 3 tables