Data are presented from a sample of almost 1000 probation and parole workers concerning job burnout, as measured by one currently accepted indicator. The problem was not as extensive as some popular accounts have implied, but a sizable proportion of the sample did report experiencing the difficulty. Findings on the levels of burnout at different seniority levels suggest that burnout is worst for employees past their initial period of employment and lowest for the newly hired and for the most experienced. Intervention implications based on this preliminary analysis include attention to consciousness raising, orientation program development, and utilization of more experienced probation officers as mentors.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BARAD, C. B. (1979) Study of Burnout Syndrome Among Social Security Administration Field Public Contact Employees. Social Security Administration. (unpublished)
2.
BELCASTRO, P. A. , R. S. GOLD, and J. GRANT (1982) “Stress and burnout: physiologic effects on correctional teachers.”Criminal Justice and Behavior9,4: 387-395.
3.
BLAU, P. (1974) On the Nature of Organizations. New York: John Wiley.
4.
BLOUGH, S. G. (1980) “Perceived stress as a function of setting and personality.” Ph.D. dissertation, Ohio State University.
5.
BRADLEY, W. B. (1969) “Community-based treatment for young adult offenders.”Crime and Delinquency15,3: 359-370.
6.
CHERNISS, C. (1980a) Professional Burnout in Human Service Organizations. New York: Praeger.
7.
CHERNISS, C. (1980b) Staff Burnout: Job Stress in the Human Services. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
8.
DALEY, M. R. (1979) “ `Burnout”: smoldering problem in protective services.”Social Work5 (September): 375-379.
9.
EDELWICH, J. with A. BRODSKY (1980) Burnout: Stages of Dissillusionment in the Helping Professions. New York: Human Services Press.
10.
FREUDENBERGER, H. J. (1974) “Staff burnout.”J. of Social Issues30,1: 159-165.
11.
HARRISON, W. D. (1980) “Role strain and burnout in child-protective service workers.”Social Service Rev.54 (March): 31-44.
12.
KAHN, R. L. (1978) “Job burnout: prevention and remedies.”Public Welfare36 (Spring): 61-63.
13.
KARGER, H. J. (1981) “Burnout as alienation.”Social Service Rev.55 (June): 270-283.
14.
KRAMER, M. (1974) Reality Shock: Why Nurses Leave Nursing. St. Louis: C. V. Mosby.
15.
LIPTON, D. , R. MARTINSON, and J. WILKS (1975) The Effectiveness of Correctional Treatment: A Survey of Treatment Evaluation Studies. New York: Praeger.
16.
MASLACH, C. (1982) Burnout: The Cost of Caring. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
17.
MASLACH, C. (1978) “Job burn-out: how people cope.”Public Welfare36, 4: 56, 58.
18.
MASLACH, C. (1976) “Burned-out.”Human Behavior5 (September): 16-22.
19.
MASLACH, C. and S. E. JACKSON (1981) “The measurement of experienced burnout.”J. of Occupational Behavior2: 99-113.
20.
MASLACH, C. and S. E. JACKSON (1980) “The measurement of experienced burnout.” (unpublished)
21.
MASLACH, C. and S. E. JACKSON (1979) “Burned-out cops and their families.”Psychology Today12 (May): 59-62.
22.
MASLACH, C. and S. E. JACKSON (1978) “Lawyer burn-out.”Barrister5,2: 8, 52-54.
23.
McCLEARY, R. (1978) Dangerous Men: The Sociology of Parole. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
24.
MINAHAN, A. (1980) “Burnout and organizational change.”Social Work252 (March): 87.
25.
OHLIN, L. E. , H. PIVEN, and D. M. PAPPENFORT (1956) “Major dilemmas of the social worker in probation and parole.”National Probation and Parole Officer J. 2 (July): 211-225.
26.
PAINE, W. S. [Ed.] (1982) Job stress and burnout: research, theory, and intervention perspectives. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
27.
PINES, A. and M. ARONSON (1981) Burnout: From Tedium to Personal Growth. New York: Macmillan.
28.
PINES, A. and D. KAFRY (1978) “Occupational tedium in the social services.”Social Work23 (November): 499-507.
29.
QUINN, R. P. and G. L. STAINES (1979) The 1977 Quality of Employment Survey: Descriptive Statistics with Comparison Data from the 1969-70 and the 1972-73 survey. Ann Arbor, MI: Survey Research Center.
30.
ROBERTSON, I. (1980) Social Problems. New York: Random House.
31.
SCHLACTER, P. (1980) “Job stress in corrections officers.” Ph.D. dissertation, Ohio State University.
32.
SECHREST, L. , S. O. WHITE, and E. D. BROWN [Eds.] (1979) The Rehabilitation of Criminal Offenders: Problems and Prospects. Washington, DC: National Academy of Sciences.
33.
STUDT, E. (1973) Surveillance and Service in Parole: a Report of the Parole Action Study. Washington, DC: National Institute of Corrections.
34.
THOMSON, D. and D. FOGEL (1980) Probation Work in Small Agencies: a National Study of Training Provisions and Needs. Chicago: University of Illinois at Chicago Circle Center for Research in Criminal Justice.
35.
TOCH, H. and J. D. GRANT (1982) Reforming Human Services: Change Through Participation. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
36.
VASH, C. L. (1980) The Burnt-Out Administrator. New York: Springer.
37.
WALLER, I. (1974) Men Released from Prison. Toronto: Univ. of Toronto Press.
38.
WHITEHEAD, J. (1983) “Burnout among probation and parole workers.” Ph.D. dissertation, State University of New York at Albany.
