| A quantitative research methodology was utilized to examine correctional officer burnout as measured by the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey (MBI-GS). Emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and professional efficacy are subscales of the MBI-GS and these variables were correlated with selected demographic variables (i.e., education level, tenure, age, supervisory status, primary work shift, gender, marital status, and ethnicity) among 300 correctional officers who work in a county jail. The Organizational Commitment Questionnaire (OCQ) developed by Mowday, Steers, and Porter (1979) was also used to triangulate the results of burnout among the same sample population and variables compared with the MBI-GS results. Higher levels of education and increased tenure were associated with increased burnout among the participants on all MBI-GS subscales. Age had no significant relationship to burnout ratings. Higher burnout was also associated with non-supervisory, male, white, and non-married participants only with regard to MBI-GS subcategory Emotional Exhaustion (EE). Higher burnout was associated with day shift participants on all MBI-GS subscales. |
