Individual Submission Summary
Share...

Direct link:

Interpersonal Violence in Swiss Corrections – Consequences for Well-being of Staff, Working Atmosphere and Organizational Commitment

Sat, Nov 22, 8:00 to 9:20am, Marriott, Pacific A, 4th Floor

Abstract

Violence in workplaces can have serious consequences for individual workers and the entire organization or enterprise. Corrections can, for many reasons, be seen as a workplace prone to an increased risk of experiencing violence. Due to different forms of deprivations affecting inmates, like lack of freedom or privacy and due to a higher potential of being aggressive by many prisoners, the atmosphere within correctional facilities contains often a general tension. This may result in victimization of staff by inmates or in witnessing violence between inmates as well as in bullying by workmates or supervisors. While consequences of violence for well-being of inmates have been frequently studied, scientific work on the effects of interpersonal violence on correctional staff and their perception of potential risk is largely missing. This paper presents results of research funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation and addresses the consequences of different forms of violence for the personal well-being of correctional staff in Switzerland and how this affects their organizational commitment and team work. Multiple multivariate regression models are used to analyze effects of different aspects of violence committed by inmates and of illegal behavior of co-workers and supervisors (bullying, incorrect treatment of inmates, etc.).

Authors