Professional Self-esteem and Adaptation of the Penitentiary System Staff

Abstract

The study focuses on examining the adaptive skills and specifics of professional self-esteem of the penitentiary system officials with varying levels of success in adapting to their duty performance. 50 individuals took part in the questioning: 25 men and 25 women aged 24-51 (the average age is 33), with 1 to 5 years of experience (the average length of service is 4 years). Five methods were used for diagnosis. For data processing we used Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance and correlation analysis. The results of the study indicate that the effectiveness of adaptation is helped by the official's psychological qualities such as the internal locus of control, mental stability, adaptive and communicative skills, moral normativity. The more successfully an official adjusts to the conditions and content of his/her official duties, the more positive his/her professional self-esteem is, the greater are his/her self-efficacy, professional and life satisfaction. Difficulties in the officials' adaptation to their professional environment entail a decline in their general state, emergence of somatovegetative disorders, reduced motivation for work, deterioration of their social interaction.