Individual and Organizational Correlates of Morale Among Workers in a Youth and Family Court Agency

Abstract

Morale is an important feature of organizational work life; however, few studies in criminal justice settings consider measuring morale in organizational surveys, nor how morale might link to other employee characteristics, like personal attitudes. The current study surveys 180 workers in a youth and family court setting to examine the relationship between morale and organizational- and individual-level factors. Survey results reveal positive feelings of morale overall; however, interaction effects suggest that type of staff and attitudes toward punishment impact morale, providing evidence that morale is a context dependent construct. By reconsidering dimensions of morale and situating it within a joint custodial and community supervision agency context, we contribute to the growing literature on organizational behavior in the youth justice setting.