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Irish Prison Officers’ Perception of Job Burnout

Clarke, Joyce (2014) Irish Prison Officers’ Perception of Job Burnout. Masters thesis, Dublin, National College of Ireland.

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Abstract

Prison officers’ job burnout is costly to everybody involved and it has not received the research attention it deserves. Prison officers as a professional group work in prisons, which requires dealing with individuals who are criminally involved and held against their will. The job characteristics model is important in developing employees objectives. This present study grew out of an apparent lack of research examining Irish prison officers’ perceptions of the job characteristics model on the three dimensions of job burnout (i.e., emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation and a reduced sense of personal accomplishment). The research was conducted to expand knowledge about Irish prison officer perceptions of job burnout and perceived causes of job burnout.

From semi-structured interviews of eighteen prison officers drawn from committal institutions, findings of the present study indicate that Irish prison officers experience job burnout and considerable stress from their job. Furthermore, this study supported other research that prison officers’ perceive the broader organisation rather than the unique attributes of the role as a prison officer that influences the level and sources of stress and job burnout among prison officers. The Irish Prison Service has commenced a self monitoring process on “Measuring the Quality of Prison Life” based on the Cambridge model compiled by Alison Libeling.

Item Type: Thesis (Masters)
Subjects: H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor > Issues of Labour and Work
H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform > Prisons
H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor > Issues of Labour and Work > Quality of Work Life / Job Satisfaction
Divisions: School of Business > Master of Arts in Human Resource Management
Depositing User: Claire Wallnutt
Date Deposited: 15 Nov 2014 14:15
Last Modified: 15 Nov 2014 14:16
URI: https://norma.ncirl.ie/id/eprint/1780

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