Examining the effects of job burnout and work-family conflict on correctional officer turnover intent

ABSTRACT

Voluntary correctional officer turnover can have devastating effects. Turnover intent is usually the last stage before actual voluntary turnover. Building upon past research, the current study examined the effects of work-family conflict and job burnout on the turnover intent of officers, while testing to see if these effects were moderated by job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Data came from a survey of 664 officers at two Southwestern state prisons and were analyzed using ordinary least squares regression. The time-based and strain-based dimensions of work-family conflict were measured, as were the burnout dimensions of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization. The measures of work-family conflict and job burnout were significant predictors of turnover intent. When job satisfaction and organizational commitment were added to the model job burnout was no longer significant, but both measures of work-family conflict were. Both satisfaction and commitment had significant negative associations and were the best predictors of correctional officer turnover intent. The results indicate that efforts are needed to raise satisfaction and commitment among officers and to lower time-based and strain-based conflict to reduce turnover intent. Turnover in correctional services is an international issue and the findings and policy implications of this study are internationally applicable.

KEYWORDS:

• Correctional officers
• turnover intent
• job satisfaction
• organizational commitment
• job burnout
• work-family conflict

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Samuel G. Vickovic

Samuel G. Vickovic is an associate professor in the School of Criminology, Criminal Justice, and Emergency Management at California State University, Long Beach. His research interests include correctional officers and the intersection of criminal justice systems, media, and popular culture.

Weston James Morrow

Weston J. Morrow is an associate professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at the University of Nevada, Reno. His current research interests revolve around police stop-and-frisk practices, racial, and ethnic disparities in the criminal justice system and correctional officer well-being.

Eric Lambert

Eric G. Lambert is a faculty member in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs in the College of Health and Human Services at Indiana University Northwest. 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.