Job Satisfaction in Community Corrections

Factors Related to Decreased Levels of Job Satisfaction

Many components of community corrections work have been identified in the literature as contributing to increased stress, burnout, and turnover for employees. One particular issue is the role dichotomy that is inherent in most positions in community corrections agencies. Specifically, researchers and experts point to the fact that community corrections officers are tasked, fundamentally, with both assisting offenders and, at the same time, monitoring and supervising their behaviors in order to detect any criminal behavior for which the offender may be punished. Essentially, community corrections personnel are required to act, often at the same time, as both rehabilitative mentors and law-enforcement officers. This dual expectation is difficult for many officers and is compounded by the fact that many community corrections officers (and the agencies in which they work) lack access to the resources necessary for successfully fulfilling either of these core expectations. Generally, community corrections personnel and agencies do not have the financial (and other) resources needed to meet basic job-related responsibilities (such as optimal caseload assignments, adequate supervision/monitoring tools, and providing appropriate client referrals to community-based programs).

Additional factors that contribute to reduced job satisfaction, higher levels of stress, and increased burnout and turnover include the poor public image of community corrections personnel, low pay and benefits, low morale, and low and/or ambiguous recruitment standards, training protocols, and promotion criteria and opportunities. More specifically, some studies reveal that the public holds a negative view of community corrections programs that extends to the persons who hold positions in these agencies. Furthermore, the public tends to have [Page 218]unclear and/or unrealistic expectations regarding the objectives of community corrections and the related responsibilities and tasks of community corrections officers (such as public safety, supervision, and social work roles).

Community corrections workers and those in law enforcement suffer from the same stress-related issues, leading to lower levels of job satisfaction and higher levels of employee burnout.

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By far one of the most commonly cited frustrations of community corrections personnel is the low pay. It is likely that low compensation rates, by themselves, increase stress and turnover. It is also quite likely that low pay serves to aggravate the other irritations discussed above (such as role conflict, role ambiguity, and poor public image) and that low pay and benefits, by themselves, would not be such a critical issue were it not for these other nuisances. Finally, unclear and less-than-optimal recruitment, training, retention, and promotion protocol and opportunities are additional work-related stressors that contribute to lower levels of job satisfaction for community corrections professionals. Most community corrections agencies now require that employees have a four-year college degree (although some still require only a high school diploma or two-year degree). Training protocol, retention strategies (if any), and promotion criteria and opportunities vary greatly across agencies and programs, leading to frustration and dissatisfaction on the part of community corrections personnel. However, the National Probation and Parole Association, along with other reports and works, increasingly recommends greater standardization in these areas in order to provide clearer guidelines and expectations for those employed in community corrections.

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