A further examination of antecedents of correctional staff life satisfaction

Abstract

Working in corrections is not only a demanding job, but a socially important one. While a growing number of studies have examined how the work environment impacts the job stress, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment of staff, very few studies have examined how working in corrections impacts the life satisfaction of workers. The current study utilized OLS regression to examine the antecedents of life satisfaction among staff at a Midwestern private prison. Job satisfaction had a positive relationship with life satisfaction, while age, work on family conflict, family on work conflict, and job involvement all had statistically significant negative effects. Finally, perceptions of the level of financial rewards, job stress, organizational commitment, gender, race, educational level, tenure, supervisory status, position, marital status, and having children, all had non-significant associations with overall satisfaction with life.

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Janet Lambert for editing and proofreading the paper. The authors also thank the anonymous reviewers and the Editor Social Science Journal for their comments and suggestions. These comments and suggestions improved the paper.

Notes

1 Tel.: [phone]; fax: [phone].

2 Tel.: [phone]; fax: [phone].

3 Tel.: [phone].

4 Tel.: [phone].

5 Tel.: [phone].