NCJ Number
198733
Journal
Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 31 Issue: 1 Dated: January/February 2003 Pages: 25-36
Editor(s)
Kent B. Joscelyn
Date Published
January 2003
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This report provides the results of a research study on general job stress (JSI) and specific job-related stressors (SSOSQ) that was administered to juvenile correctional officers and their supervisors in 1997.
Abstract
The 413 juvenile correctional officers (JCOs) that were evaluated in this study indicated that their jobs were more stressful, based on the Job Stress Index (JSI), than workers in the normative sample on every job stress dimension, except for time pressure. Their highest stress intensity score was in the area of competence of others. The highest score relative to workers in other vocations was for physical demands and danger. JCOs who had been employed longer and had higher educational attainment had higher JSI scores, with no difference found based on race or gender. Supervisor rankings of stress were virtually the same as the officers, with overall intensity ratings being lower for supervisors. Lack of support by agency, long hours, and inadequate tools for the job eclipsed physical danger as stressors in the more job-specific SSOSQ study. Females reported higher stress stemming from lack of support by agency and everyday job duties than did males. Supervisors rated JCOs' work as more stressful than JCOs did themselves. However, rankings of stressors by JCOs, supervisors, and by adult officers in the SSOSQ study sample were not significantly different, indicating generalizability to a wide range of correctional settings. In conclusion, implications for the development of stress management interventions oriented around increasing officers' autonomy and sense of control. Tables, references