Exploring the association between organizational justice and job stress among Nigerian correctional staff

Abstract

Organizational justice is important for most employees. Distributive justice (fairness of outcomes) and procedural justice (fairness of processes to reach outcomes) are two major dimensions of organizational justice. Limited research has examined how perceptions of the distributive and the procedural types of justice are linked with job stress of correctional staff, and the vast majority of this limited research has been conducted with U.S. staff. The current study examined how these dimensions of organizational justice are associated with job stress among Nigerian correctional staff. Findings from a survey of 120 staff members from a correctional institution in Southeast Nigeria showed a significant relationship between organizational justice and job stress. Contrary to a similar study in the United States that found that distributive justice had more impact on correctional job stress, employee perceptions that organizational processes and procedures were fair and transparent were associated with a reduced level of stress in Nigeria. One implication of the study findings is that the impact of the distributive and procedural types of justice on staff morale and stress may be attributed more to environmental context and situation.

Keywords:

• Correctional staff
• distributive justice
• job stress
• Nigeria
• organizational justice
• procedural justice

Acknowledgment

The authors thank Janet Lambert for proofreading the article. The authors thank the reviewers, editor, and editorial staff for their review of the article. All three authors contributed to this article equally.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

O. Oko Elechi

O. Oko Elechi is a Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Mississippi Valley State University. He received his PhD from Simon Fraser University, Canada. He also holds two degrees from the University of Oslo, Norway. His writings on Restorative Justice, Community Policing and the African Indigenous Justice Systems have been extensively published in International Journals, Book chapters and Anthologies. He is also the author of the book Doing Justice Without the State: The Afikpo (Ehugbo) Nigeria Model, published by Routledge, New York.

Eric G. Lambert

Eric G. Lambert is a faculty member in the Department of Criminal Justice at the University of Nevada, Reno. He received his PhD from the School of Criminal Justice at the State University of New York at Albany. His research interests include organizational issues, job and organizational effects on the attitudes, intentions, and behaviors of criminal justice employees, and the international perceptions, attitudes, and views on criminal justice issues.

Smart Otu

Smart Otu graduated from University of Port Harcourt (BSc),University of Ibadan (MSc), D.Litt.Phil (Criminology), University of South Africa, D.Phil (Sociology) The University of the Western Cape, Cape Town. He is a fellow of West Africa Research Association (WARA); former intern of Drug Policy Research Centre, RAND Corporation Santa Monica, Ca. Dr. Otu had taught at the University of Western Cape, Ebonyi State University Abakaliki, Nigeria and is currently with The Federal University, Ndufu-Alike, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State. His specialty is in the areas of Illegal drugs trafficking and use, armed robbery, corruption, Nigerian corrections, theory deconstruction and reconstruction among other things.