Job Frustration in Substance Abuse Counselors Working With Offenders in Prisons Versus Community Settings

Abstract

Substance abuse counselors who work with offenders are facing increasing caseloads which puts them at higher risk for job frustration. The purpose of this study was to explore differences between substance abuse counselors employed in prison versus community settings in terms of level of organizational support and job frustration. This study also investigated whether organizational support was associated with job frustration after controlling for counselor characteristics and workplace setting. This was accomplished utilizing data that was collected from 267 counselors as part of the Criminal Justice Drug Abuse Treatment Studies (CJ-DATS) research cooperative. Results indicated that counselors employed in community settings, as compared to those employed in prisons, are more likely to report higher levels of perceived organizational support. In addition, ordinal logistic regression results reveal that counselors who are non-white and have greater levels of organizational support have less job frustration, after controlling for counselor characteristics and workplace setting. The research to practice implications are discussed.

Experiences of Burnout among Drug Counselors in A Large Opioid Treatment Program: A Qualitative Investigation

“…Most previous studies used the Maslach Burnout Inventory 26 to characterize counselors' levels of emotional exhaustion (5 items; e.g., "I feel emotionally drained from my work"), cynicism (5 items; e.g., "I have become more cynical whether my work contributes anything"), and inefficacy (6 items; "I can effectively solve the problems that arise in my work" [reverse-scored]). Our findings extend those from prior quantitative [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][27][28][29][30] and qualitative studies by outlining felt components of counselor burnout, including cognitive (e.g., rumination), affective (e.g., emotional fatigue), behavioral (e.g., irritability with peers), physiological (e.g., feeling tired), and a blend/combination of these components (e.g., feeling overwhelmed). Although multidimensional in content, counselors' descriptions of burnout aligned more with the emotional exhaustion component of Maslach's model (and less with cynicism or inefficacy).…”

“…Although turnover was not the focus of the current investigation, we provide the following data to assist the reader to contextualize counselors' qualitative reports of burnout: During the 12 months that the interviews were conducted (August 2015 to July 2016), the rate of voluntary turnover among drug counselors at the study site was 8/57 (14%), which is less than half the 33% rate reported in prior studies. [27][28][29][30][31][32] Thus, despite working in OTPs with expanding treatment capacity, counselor burnout and rates of turnover appear to have been relatively low.…”

Clinician Experiences of Care Provision in the Correctional Setting: A Scoping Review

“…Finally, three were excluded because they were theoretical papers and two were excluded because they were an individual's personal narrative. The remaining 23 studies were considered eligible for inclusion in the final review (Akbari et al, 2014;Bonner, 2005;Bonner & Vandecreek, 2006;Cashin et al, 2010;Cashmore et al, 2016;Caulfield & Twort, 2012;Dennis & Leach, 2007;Doyle, 1998Doyle, , 1999Fuehrlein et al, 2014;Gallavan & Newman, 2013;Goldberg et al, 1996;Jacob, 2012Jacob, , 2014Perkins & Oser, 2014;Perry et al, 2010;Shelton et al, 2010;Smith, 1987;Stewart, 2009;Walsh, 2009;Walsh & Bee, 2012;White et al, 2014;Willmott, 1997;Wright et al, 2014). Among these publications, eight were from the United Kingdom, seven from the United States, five from Australia, two from Canada, and single publications were from Iran and France.…”

Doing Qualitative Research in a Controlled Site: Challenges, Lessons, and Strategies

“…Perkins and Oser (2014) report that a concentration on incarceration rather than rehabilitation makes for an environment that is not welcoming toward noncore activities such as research and community engagement. Aside from formal restrictions, some people do not consider the prison a conducive work environment (Reamer, 2004), possibly because of the frustrations one has to go through in order to gain access (Perkins & Oser, 2014).…”