Job Satisfaction Among Psychologists Working in State Prisons

Abstract

There is growing demand for psychologists to work in correctional settings, and high vacancy rates indicate that efforts are needed to attract and retain employees. Job satisfaction has been associated with a variety of work-related outcomes such as productivity and turnover. In this study, 73 master’s- and doctoral-level psychologists working in one state prison system responded to a job satisfaction survey based on one developed by Boothby and Clements (2002). Respondents rated their overall job satisfaction along with satisfaction of 18 individual job facets. Three general facets, (a) economics, (b) perceived organizational support, and (c) interpersonal relationships, all significantly predicted overall job satisfaction scores. Ratings of facet importance did not moderate the relationship between facet satisfaction and overall satisfaction with employment as a prison psychologist. Suggestions for the future use of the scale in other correctional systems are outlined, including supplementing ratings with open-ended questions to better target setting-specific sources of discontent.