Job Satisfaction and Work-Related Stress

• Published date: 01 December 2017
• Author: Leslie A. Leip,Jeanne Stinchcomb,Mara Schiff
• DOI: 10.1177/0734016817699671
• Date: 01 December 2017
• Subject Matter: Articles

Article

Job Satisfaction and

Work-Related Stress:

Results From a National

Survey of Prison Wardens

Leslie A. Leip

1

, Jeanne Stinchcomb

1

, and Mara Schiff

1

Abstract

The job of prison warden encompasses numerous external pressures and internal challenges, along

with commensurately high performance expectations, the cumulative impact of which may be

reflected in the job satisfaction and work-related stress of incumbents. Using data gathered from a

national survey of prison wardens, we examine the impact of work-related stress, depersonalization,

and the authority to carry out responsibilities on job satisfaction levels of prison wardens

across the nation.

Keywords

prison wardens, job satisfaction, work-related stress, depersonalization, job autonomy

Despite being secured behind concrete walls and concertina wire, correctional institutions have

hardly been immune to the influence of social, economic, and political trends that have impacted

free society as well as contributed to shaping the current state of correctional administration

(American Correctional Association, 1983; Johnson, 2002; Keve, 1991; Stinchcomb, 2011). Espe-

cially within recent decades, the leaders of America’s correctional system have been affected by

widespread changes, ranging from court intervention and recessionary cutbacks to diversification of

the correctional workforce. As prison wardens have adapted to the changes generated by greater

judicial oversight, shifting public policies, and managing escalating demands with declining reven-

ues, they have likewise faced such operational challenges as leading a new generation of employees,

engaging external stakeholders, combating negati ve public opinion, and maintaining order in a

volatile environment—while at the same time, delicately balancing their personal and professional

lives in order to cope effectively with work-related stress.

These occupational demands might cumulatively be expected to have influenced the adminis-

trative characteristics of the role of prison warden (Atkin-Plunk & Armstrong, 2013) because

successfully fulfilling the role of a contemporary warden requires functioning in a number of

1

Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL, USA

Corresponding Author:

Leslie A. Leip, Social Science Building, Florida Atlantic University, Office 201, Boca Raton, FL 33431, USA.

Email: lleip@fau.edu

Criminal Justice Review

2017, Vol. 42(4) 400-410

ª2017 Georgia State University

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DOI: 10.1177/0734016817699671

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