Is the Job Burning Me Out? An Exploratory Test of the Job Characteristics Model on the Emotional Burnout of Prison Staff

• NCJ Number: 238189
• Journal: Prison Journal Volume: 92 Issue: 1 Dated: March 2012 Pages: 3-23
• Author(s): Eric G. Lambert; Nancy L. Hogan; Kelly Cheeseman Dial; Shanhe Jiang; Mahfuzul I. Khondaker
• Date Published: March 2012
• Length: 21 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This research examines emotional burnout of prison staff and the cost that is involved.

Abstract

Although emotional burnout of prison staff is costly to all involved, it has not received the kind of research attention that is warranted. This exploratory study focused on the impact of job characteristics on the emotional exhaustion dimension of burnout of prison staff. Using data from 272 staff members at a Midwestern State prison, this study found that both job feedback and job autonomy had negative effects on the index of emotional exhaustion burnout; however, both supervision and job variety had nonsignificant effects. The study further discussed possible reasons for both the significant and nonsignificant relationships. (Published Abstract)