ABSTRACT
The study investigated
organizational justice, self efficacy and work status as predictors of
occupational stress among three hundred and eighty (380) workers of Nigeria prison in Enugu. They consisted of two hundred and
twenty six (226) junior and one hundred and fifty four (154) senior aged 18-60
years with a mean age of 39 years. Three instruments were used in the study;
Organizational Justice Scale, New General Self efficacy Scale and Role-Based
Stress Inventory. Linear regression analysis was used employed to test for
significances of the stated hypotheses, which showed a significant effect of
the predictors variables, organizational justice (ß= .041, p=NS). Self
efficacy (ß = -.103, p<.05) and work status (ß = -.190, p<.001) on
occupational stress, the dependent variable. The result of the findings showed
that self efficacy and work status were statistically significant predictors of
occupational stress among prison workers. Organization stress was not
significant. Implications and limitations were discussed and suggestions were
made for further study.
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
Title Page i
Certification
page
Dedication
Acknowledgments
List of Tables
Abstract
Table of Contents ii
CHAPTER ONE:
INTRODUCTION
Introduction 1
Statement of the Problem
Purpose of the
Study
Operational
Definition of Terms
CHAPTER TWO:
LITERATURE REVIEW
THEORETICAL
REVIEW
Response Based Model
Person-Environment Fit Theory
Social
Cognitive Theory (SCT)
Consistency Theory
Self-Determination
Theory (SDT)
Identity Theory
Theory of Role Balance
Adams’ Equity theory (1963)
Herzberg’s
two factors of motivation
EMPIRICAL REVIEW
Organizational justice and
occupational stress
Self efficacy and occupational stress
Job Status and occupational
stress
SUMMARY OF THE LITERATURE REVIEW
HYPOTHESES
CHAPTER THREE: METHOD
Participants
Instrument
Procedure
Design and Statistics
CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS
CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION
REFERENCES
APPENDIXES
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
The goal of every organization, is
to work towards achieving the objective for its existence. As an organization,
the major goal of the prisons at any level is towards attainment of safe
custody of the inmates. Although there may be other peripheral objectives,
emphasis is placed on the achievement of inmates’ reformation and
rehabilitation. The extent to which this goal is actualized depends principally
on the workforce most especially the prison workers. They constitute the oil
that lubricates the factors of security performance and criminal justice system
(CJS) objectives (Zapf, 2002). However, studies (e.g.Cooper & Cartwirght
1994; Kinman, 2001) have identified, among other things occupational stress as
one of the militating factors against employees well being and effective
performance.
Stress is an unavoidable
characteristic of life and work. It is a generalized non-specific response of
the body to any demand made on it. Occupational stress describes physical,
mental and emotional wear and tear brought about by incongruence between the
requirement of the job and capabilities resource and needs of the employee to
cope with job demands (Lazarus 2000; Akinboye, Akinboye & Adeyemo, 2002). According to Youssef and Luthan (2007) over
seventy percent of employees world – wide describe their jobs as stressful with
more than one in five reporting high levels of stress at work on a daily basis.
Stress
experienced by people in different occupational aress and job roles has been
discussed in many papers with a number of different occupations being described
as experiencing above average levels of stress. The job of prison officers, in
particular, has been rated as stressful (Cooper, Cooper & Eaker 1988;
Cooper, Dewe & O’Driscoll, 2001). A multivariate logistic regression
analysis carried out by Stack & Tsoudis (2003) indicated that the risk of
suicide among prison guards was 39% higher than the rest of the working age
population. Prison officers play crucial roles in the functioning of prison.
According to Moon and Maxwell (2004) prison officers can influence the positive
behaviour of inmates through daily contact therefore helping to maintain the
social and security environment of prisons on daily basis. However, the
responsibility this position holds is fraught with stress (Lambert, Hogan &
Barton, 2004).
According to Crawley (2004) prison officer’s anxiety level arises from the unpredictability of prison life, although much of prison life is mundane and routine the officer is always conscious that a prisoner may assault him that a prisoner may try to escape, that a prisoner may try to take him hostage. Those who choose a career as a prison officer face a number of issues such as role problem, work over load, demanding social contracts (with prisoners, colleagues and supervisors) and poor social status (Schaufeli & Peeters, 2000). These factors may not only affect the officer but also have a ripple effect that can result in negative consequences for the officers’ family members as well as the organization. Furthermore, as the prison population continues to blossom the conditions within prison facilities will remain stressful. (Slates, Vogel, Johnson, 2001; Wahab 2010).
According to Armstrong and Griffin (2004) prisons is
regarded as unique working environments as very few other institutions are
charged with the primary duty of supervising and securing a population that can
be unwilling and potentially violent. In consequence working in prisons results
in a number of equally distinct occupational stressors which collating the
evidence from the literature that author identified as work over loads gender
issues, and role problem. These factors reduced worker satisfaction and
motivation (Lambert & Barton, 2004).
One factor related to both job satisfaction
and employee motivation is the extent to which employees perceive that they are
being treated fairly. In line with equity theory it is believed that our levels
of job satisfaction and motivation are related to how fairly we believe we are
treated in comparison with others. If we believe we are treated unfairly we
attempt to change our beliefs or behaviour. Until the situation appears to be
fair (Hoy & Tarter, 2004)
Furthermore, research on equity has
recently expanded into what researchers call distributive justice, procedural
justice, interpersonal and informational justice. Distributive justice is the
perceived fairness of the actual decisions made in an organization, procedural
justice is the perceived fairness of the methods used to arrive at the
decision. Interpersonal justice refers to employees perceptions towards the
interpersonal treatment worker receives during the procedure of gathering
incentives (Bies & Moag, 1986). Informational justice refers to perceptions
of employees’ about the clear information related to a decision that made by
the organization (Bies, Shapiro & Cummings, 1988). These entire four
dimensions are the processes that involved in rewarding works.
ORGANIZATIONAL JUSTICE, SELF EFFICACY, AND WORK STATUS AS PREDICTORS OF OCCUPATIONAL STRESS AMONG PRISON WORKERS
