| Staff members' perceptions of five aspects of job satisfaction, three aspects of the work environment, and attitudes toward disabled people were examined in two different settings: a New York State Developmental Center, and 14 New York State operated community Immediate Care Facilities (ICF's).; Data collection employed random sampling of direct care staff members working with clients functioning at the profound and at the severe levels of intellectual and adaptive functioning. Overall, 104 staff members from the developmental center and 102 staff members from community homes completed the Job Descriptive Index (JDI), which assessed factors related to job satisfaction; the Work Environment Scale (WES), which assessed factors related to environment, relationships, and organization; and the Attitudes Toward Disabled Persons Scale (ATDP), which assessed attitudes toward disabled persons.; The results indicated that compared to developmental center staff members, community center ICF staff members were more satisfied with their jobs (t = 3.05, p {dollar}<{dollar}.02), and with their work environments (t = 4.76, p {dollar}<{dollar}.0001). There were no significant differences in attitude toward developmentally disabled persons (t =.08, p =.938), and no significant correlation between job satisfaction and attitudes toward developmentally disabled persons (r = {dollar}-.044{dollar}, p =.532).; Similarly, community ICF staff members had significantly greater scores on their ratings of work (t = 3.26, p {dollar}<{dollar}.001) and coworkers (t = 2.93, p {dollar}<{dollar}.004), but no significant differences regarding supervisors (t =.74, p =.458), pay (t =.97, p =.331) or promotions (t =.60, p =.549) on the Job Descriptive Index. They had significantly greater scores on the relationship dimension (t = 3.87, p {dollar}<{dollar}.0001) and the systems maintenance dimension (t = 6.40, p {dollar}<{dollar}.0001), but no significant difference for the personal growth dimension (t =.92, p =.359) of the Work Environment Scale.; Correlations between dependent measures and age, sex, education, length of employment at present work location, and travel time to work indicated minimal relationships (r's {dollar}<{dollar}.115). Stepwise multiple regression equations indicated that the most significant predictor of job satisfaction was the work environment (Beta =.618, t = 10.050, p =.001).; It was concluded that differences in job satisfaction between these two groups of employees exist and are strongly related to work environment. Staff members working with developmentally disabled clients in the community are more satisfied with their jobs and their environments than are staff members working with similar clients in the developmental center. |
