NCJ Number
107611
Journal
Group and Organization Studies Volume: 12 Issue: 2 Dated: (June 1987) Pages: 174-188
Date Published
1987
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This study examined the validity of Cherniss' model in explaining psychological burnout among 828 men and women police officers attending work-related courses at the Ontario Police College.
Abstract
Data were collected using questionnaires whose items encompassed variables in the Cherniss model. The model proposes that work-setting characteristics interact with personal career orientations, extra-work demands and supports, and source of stress, leading to certain coping attitudes, which include burnout. Path analysis was used to examine relationships among variable pairs, entered in such a way as to assume a causal order, but controlling for relationships with other variables in the model. Work setting and stress antecedents correlated signficantly with burnout, but individual demographic characteristics produced weak correlations with burnout. As proposed by Cherniss, burnout was associated with undesirable personal and organizational outcomes. Overall, the analysis provides some support for the Cherniss model. Intervention to prevent burnout could include staff development and counseling; job structuring; leadership and supervision; and organizational goals, methods, and norms. 12 references.