Correctional Officer Job Burnout: A Path Model

A path model of job burnout among correctional officers from a southern state is examined. The analysis shows that direct contact with inmates is not distressing; however, administrative practices are bothersome to officers. The findings may be interpreted as supporting the recently advanced double-...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The journal of research in crime and delinquency 1986-02, Vol.23 (1), p.23-42
Main Authors: WHITEHEAD, JOHN T., LINDQUIST, CHARLES A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ascription
Biological and medical sciences
Bureaucracy
Burnout
Correctional personnel
Health staff related problems. Vocational training
Management styles
Medical sciences
Occupational stress
Prisoners
Psychological distress
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Social psychiatry. Ethnopsychiatry
Strategies
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Summary:A path model of job burnout among correctional officers from a southern state is examined. The analysis shows that direct contact with inmates is not distressing; however, administrative practices are bothersome to officers. The findings may be interpreted as supporting the recently advanced double-bind theory of correctional officer stress (Cheek and Miller, 1983)—which ascribes officer distress to administrative practices—and/or being consistent with street-level bureaucracy theory (Lipsky, 1980), which attributes worker distress to managerial control strategies. Implications for intervention are discussed.
ISSN:0022-4278
1552-731X
DOI:10.1177/0022427886023001003