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Comparison of Perceptions of the Work Environment Between Minority and Non-Minority Employees of the Federal Prison System

NCJ Number
136411
Journal
Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 20 Issue: 1 Dated: (1992) Pages: 63-71
Author(s)
K N Wright; W G Saylor
Date Published
1992
Length
9 pages
Annotation
Results of the 1988 Prison Social Climate Survey, administered to a stratified proportional probability sample of staff at all levels and in all job categories at one-half of the Federal prison system facilities, were used to determine whether blacks and Hispanics experience the organization differently from non-minority employees.
Abstract
Neither race nor ethnicity was found to be related to evaluations of the quality of supervision or job satisfaction among the sample of 3,325 employees. These findings differed from previous studies; both blacks and Hispanic employees felt more effective in working with inmates than did non-minority workers. The composition of the staff did not seem to be related to perceptions about the work environment, but the make-up of the inmate population apparently did influence those perceptions. Perceptions of the quality of supervision and the sense of effectiveness in working with inmates declined and levels of job-related stress increased as the proportion of black inmates in the population increased. As the proportion of the Hispanic prisoner population increased so did job-related stress. 3 tables and 16 references (Author abstract modified)