Take this job and shove it: An exploratory study of turnover intent among jail staff

    Authors

    E. Lambert;E. A. Paoline

    Comments

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    Abbreviated Journal Title

    J. Crim. Justice

    Keywords

    FEMALE CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS; EMPLOYEE TURNOVER; VOLUNTARY TURNOVER; WORK ALIENATION; ROLE-CONFLICT; SATISFACTION; STRESS; IMPACT; COMMITMENT; GENDER; Criminology & Penology

    Abstract

    The success of any organization usually rests on the shoulders of its employees. As such, voluntary personnel turnover presents administrative challenges that have substantial and far reaching effects. Understanding the factors that lead to staff turnover intentions can assist organizational leaders in possibly altering the work environment to address employee concerns. Among correctional organizations, the few studies that have been conducted on turnover intent have focused, as most correctional research in general, on prisons. The exclusion of jail turnover intent is puzzling given the unique challenges that jail staff face. The current study attempted to fill this empirical void by using survey data to examine the antecedents (i.e., personal characteristics, perceptions of the work environment, and job attitudes) of turnover intent among staff at a large southern jail. Based on a multivariate analysis, the most powerful predictors of jail staff turnover intent were job attitudes (i.e., job involvement, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment). The findings suggested that administrators should concentrate on improving the work environment to boost employee job involvement, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

    Journal Title

    Journal of Criminal Justice

    Volume

    38

    Issue/Number

    2

    Publication Date

    1-1-2010

    Document Type

    Article

    Language

    English

    First Page

    139

    Last Page

    148

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000276980700004

    ISSN

    0047-2352

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