Organizationally Based Role Conflict, Overload, and Ambiguity: Personal Stress on Jail Correctional Officers

• In Event: Correctional Officer Stress and Related Outcomes

Abstract

Since the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing report focused on officer’s health and well-being as one of its six pillars, there has been a substantial increase in interest and subsequently research in understanding how job-related stress affects police performance. Little attention, however, has focused upon job related stress and the performance of correctional officers, especially in jail settings. Understanding how role conflict, overload and ambiguity faced by correctional officers is important because they are critical factors in the creation of job stress which has direct links to a wide variety of issues related to a jail officers including job burnout, absenteeism, and turnover. With, more than 430,000 people employed in our nation’s jails and prisons it is critical that the correlates of stress be understood and acted upon.
This study surveyed jail correctional officers in the mid-Atlantic region of the US concerning the correlates of stress. The findings indicate that role conflict, role ambiguity and role overload are stressors that affect job performance. Policy implications are presented and discussed.

Authors

• Ashley Christensen, American University

• Richard R. Bennett, American University