NCJ Number
143537
Journal
Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 21 Issue: 2 Dated: (1993) Pages: 131-142
Date Published
1993
Length
12 pages
Annotation
A sample of 97 criminal justice supervisory staff personnel employees in a short-term detention center for juveniles in a large metropolitan area on the West Coast completed questionnaires concerning their job satisfaction, work performance, growth orientation, and tenure. The subjects were primarily male, all had completed at least two years of college, their mean job tenure was over 12 years, and they were racially representative of the organization's population.
Abstract
The 2-year time period of the study was determined by voluntary turnover data supplied by the organization; administrators estimated the turnover rate to be approximately 20 percent per year. The findings showed a negative correlation between work satisfaction and job turnover. More importantly, a comparison between a No Turnover group and an Intraoccupational Turnover group involving the variables tested showed a group difference only for tenure. This discovery indicates that voluntary turnover is used by employees as a positive adjustment strategy for dealing with jobs that fail to use their individual capabilities. According to these results, correctional employees who left their jobs had higher performance ratings than those who stayed. Furthermore, a comparison between Intraoccupational and Interoccupational Turnovers showed that a disproportionate number of the best performers left not only their initial correctional jobs, but the overall occupation as well. The study also includes 4 tables and 56 references.