The Issue of Trust in Shaping the Job Involvement, Job Satisfaction, and Organizational Commitment of Southern Correctional Staff

• Published date: 01 March 2021
• Date: 01 March 2021
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/0887403420903370
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/0887403420903370

Criminal Justice Policy Review

2021, Vol. 32(2) 193 –215

© The Author(s) 2020

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DOI: 10.1177/0887403420903370

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Article

The Issue of Trust in Shaping

the Job Involvement,

Job Satisfaction, and

Organizational Commitment

of Southern Correctional Staff

Eric G. Lambert1, Linda D. Keena2,

Stacy H. Haynes3, Rose Ricciardelli4, David May3,

and Matthew Leone1

Abstract

While the issue of trust is theoretically essential for the effective operation of

correctional organizations, few researchers have examined how the different types of

trust are related to salient outcomes for staff. In this study, we examined the effects of

coworker, supervisor, and management trust on the job involvement, job satisfaction,

and organizational commitment of 322 Southern U.S. correctional staff. The types of

workplace trust, however, varied in their effects. Specifically, multivariate analysis indicated

only management trust had a significant positive effect on job involvement, but both

coworker trust and management trust had significant positive effects on job satisfaction,

whereas both supervisor trust and management trust had significant positive effects

on organizational commitment. The current findings support the overall contention

that workplace trust plays an important role in shaping prison staff job involvement,

job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. The results underscore the need for

improving perceptions of trust in the workplace, particularly management trust.

Keywords

prison staff, trust, job involvement, job satisfaction, organizational commitment

1University of Nevada, Reno, USA

2The University of Mississippi, University, USA

3Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, USA

4Memorial University of Newfoundland, St John’s, Canada

Corresponding Author:

Eric G. Lambert, Department of Criminal Justice, University of Nevada, Reno, AB601D, Mail Stop 0214,

1664 North Virginia Street, Reno, NV 89557, USA.

Email: ericlambert@unr.edu

903370CJPXXX10.1177/0887403420903370Criminal Justice Policy ReviewLambert et al.

research-article2020

194 Criminal Justice Policy Review 32(2)

Paoline and Lambert (2012) argued that correctional staff (i.e., staff holding different

positions who work at a facility) are the heart and soul of the typical correctional orga-

nization. Correctional staff, regardless of the position, are responsible for a multitude of

tasks critical for the operation of a humane, safe, and secure facility. In addition to being

a valuable resource for correctional agencies, staff are also an expensive resource.

Between 70% and 80% of the operating budget for most prisons is for staffing (Camp

& Gaes, 2002). Not only do staff affect prison operations, their work environment also

affects them (Lambert et al., 2007). Three salient attitudinal work variables are job

involvement, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. Job involvement is the

cognitive (i.e., psychological) identification with the job (Kanungo, 1982a, 1982b). Job

satisfaction is the affective (i.e., emotional) feeling a person has toward the job (Locke,

1976). Organizational commitment refers to the bond between the person and the

employing organization (Mowday et al., 1982).

These three attitudinal work variables have significant implications for both cor-

rectional staff and the employing organization. Job involvement, job satisfaction,

and organizational commitment have been observed to be related to reduced work

absenteeism (Lambert, Edwards, et al., 2005; Trounson & Pheifer, 2017), decreased

turnover intent/turnout (Griffin et al., 2014; Lambert & Hogan, 2009a; Lambert,

Keena, et al., 2019); lower levels of job burnout (Finney et al., 2013; Griffin et al.,

2010), greater life satisfaction (Lambert, Elechi, & Otu, 2019; Lambert, Hogan,

et al., 2005), increased compliance with rules (Lambert, Qureshi, et al., 2017),

greater support for change (Griffin et al., 2014), higher support for treatment of

offenders (Matz et al., 2013), greater involvement in organizational citizenship

(Lambert et al., 2016), and better work performance (Griffin et al., 2010). In light

of these salient outcomes, research on how workplace variables affect these work

attitudes has been undertaken. Although this research has provided vital informa-

tion on the effects of different workplace variables, there is still need for additional

research. One workplace concept that has received little research attention regard-

ing its effects on correctional staff work attitudes is trust. We define trust as the

belief by the trustor that another person or entity (i.e., the trusted) will do what was

promised and will act in a benevolent manner on behalf of the trustor (Colquitt

et al., 2007; Doney et al., 1998; Mayer et al., 1995). There are different forms of

workplace trust, with the three major ones being supervisor trust, management

trust, and coworker trust (Gilstrap & Collins, 2012; Kath et al., 2010). Specifically,

our study examined the effects of coworker trust, supervisor trust, and management

trust on the job involvement, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment of

Southern correctional staff. Our study adds to the literature by expanding on the

limited published research on how organizational trust is associated with work atti-

tudes of correctional staff. The limited past research has examined how supervisor

and/or management trust is associated with job satisfaction and/or organizational

commitment. In addition to examining the effects of supervisor and management

trust on satisfaction and commitment, we expand the previous limited research by

also including coworker trust and job involvement.