The Impact of Individual and Institutional Factors on Turnover Intent Among Taiwanese Correctional Staff

• DOI: 10.1177/0306624X15589099
• Date: 01 January 2017
• Author: Yung-Lien Lai
• Published date: 01 January 2017
• Subject Matter: Articles

International Journal of

Offender Therapy and

Comparative Criminology

2017, Vol. 61(1) 100 –121

© The Author(s) 2015

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DOI: 10.1177/0306624X15589099

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Article

The Impact of Individual

and Institutional Factors

on Turnover Intent Among

Taiwanese Correctional Staff

Yung-Lien Lai1

Abstract

The existing literature on turnover intent among correctional staff conducted in

Western societies focuses on the impact of individual-level factors; the possible effects

of institutional contexts have been largely overlooked. Moreover, the relationships of

various multidimensional conceptualizations of both job satisfaction and organizational

commitment to turnover intent are still largely unknown. Using data collected by a

self-reported survey of 676 custody staff employed in 22 Taiwanese correctional

facilities during April of 2011, the present study expands upon theoretical models

developed in Western societies and examines the effects of both individual and

institutional factors on turnover intent simultaneously. Results from the use of the

hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) statistical method indicate that, at the individual-

level, supervisory versus non-supervisory status, job stress, job dangerousness,

job satisfaction, and organizational commitment consistently produce a significant

association with turnover intent after controlling for personal characteristics.

Specifically, three distinct forms of organizational commitment demonstrated an

inverse impact on turnover intent. Among institutional-level variables, custody staff

who came from a larger facility reported higher likelihood of thinking about quitting

their job.

Keywords

turnover intent, job dangerousness, organizational commitment, correctional staff,

institutional contexts

1Central Police University, Taoyuan City, Taiwan

Corresponding Author:

Yung-Lien Lai, Department of Crime Prevention and Corrections, Central Police University, No. 56,

Shuren Rd., Guishan Township, Taoyuan City, 33304, Taiwan.

Email: yxl005@mail.cpu.edu.tw

589099IJOXXX10.1177/0306624X15589099International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative CriminologyLai

research-article2015

Lai 101

Introduction

Although a great deal of research has been conducted pertaining to turnover intent

among correctional staff in Western societies (Byrd, Cochran, Silverman, & Blount,

2000; Camp, 1994; Griffin, Hogan, & Lambert, 2014; Lambert, 2006; Lambert &

Hogan, 2009; Lambert & Paoline, 2010; Matz, Wells, Minor, & Angel, 2012; Slate &

Vogel, 1997), this important area of research has been largely overlooked in Taiwan.

Recently, staff retention has become a significant problem as a consequence of more

severe punishments being mandated for violent and sexual offenders, as well as for

repeat offenders since July 2005; the nation’s “get-tough-on-crime” policy took effect

at that time (Kuo, 2009). Prison and jail populations began to rise and correctional

facilities became more crowded, in time leading to a greater incidence of violent mis-

conduct among inmates. Simultaneously, the inmate/staff ratio has gone up and the

workloads assigned to the correctional staff have become more onerous. These conse-

quences resulting from the adoption of this punitive policy have increased the stresses

of work in correctional facilities, stresses felt by administrators and the correction staff

alike (Jou, Lee, Lin, & Hebenton, 2011). As expected, more correctional officers than

ever, specifically those employed as custody staff, are considering quitting their cor-

rectional jobs at the very time greater numbers of correctional facility jobs are needing

to be filled.

Many correctional officers who are considering quitting do not actually leave their

positions in Taiwan; for example, the turnover rate among correctional officers has

ranged consistently from 3% to 5% over the past decade (Agency of Corrections

[AOC] Personnel Office, 2011). However, their disaffection and tentative searching

for other jobs can have a devastating effect on the correctional facility workforce. For

example, Kuo (2009) found that the absenteeism among those correctional officers

was commonplace in Kaohsiung prison, resulting in overtime pay to have another staff

member cover the post vacated by the absent person and overstaffing. Peng’s (2011)

study indicated many correctional officers have prepared for public servant positions

outside of the correctional system, suggesting that the Chinese proverb of “holding a

temporary position while seeking for a better job” is a strategy widely in practice

among employees in Taiwan’s correctional workforce. Hence, exploring the correlates

to turnover intent among Taiwanese custody officers is clearly timely and warranted.

Given the fact that there is no prevailing theory to explain this phenomenon in

Taiwan’s correctional literature, this study attempts to borrow factors and models

commonly utilized in Western societies for providing practical insights for identifying

high-risk correctional employees whose turnover intent is detrimental to the correc-

tional facilities in which they work. For example, Lambert and Hogan’s (2009) causal

model is applicable. In line with their argument, the effects of multidimensional con-

cepts of job satisfaction and organizational commitment on turnover intent for cor-

rectional officers are still relatively unknown. At the same time, the results drawn from

prior studies conducted in Western societies reveal that personal demographics and

workplace factors affect the levels of turnover intent among correctional staff (for

more review, see Lambert, 2006). However, what have been missing from the