Prison organisational climate: exploring the impact of climate on emotional well being

Abstract

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/ authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -This paper aims to describe research which was undertaken exploring organisational climate within a prison setting and the potential directional affects of work and home. The purpose of the research was to develop a conceptual framework of the impact of climate on social and emotional functioning.Design/methodology/approach -Using the competing values framework 149 prison staff completed a questionnaire designed to explore the interactional effects of boundary theory, organisational climate and well being.Findings -It was found that all staff placed emphasis on the control quadrant of the organisational climate. In addition, the data revealed a moderately curvilinear relationship between length of service and climate engagement on each of the quadrants. These results parallel other research in relation to attitude change. The desire for higher integration was associated with an increased impact on work/home life and a desire for, and achievement of, segmentation does not directly impact on subjective well being. The research concluded that viewing integration and segmentation along a continuum in relation to the prison service role is too simplistic. Rather, these should be viewed in a more complex way and a model for this is proposed. The findings also indicate that employees with high identity consistency (integration) also had a more engaged experience of the prison climate whereas employees with lower identity consistency (segmentation) were less engaged.Research limitations/implications -There are several implications of the research. Firstly, further research is required to explore the potential impact of attempting to change a prison climate in terms of understanding why certain climate quadrants may be preferred by staff in different roles. The findings indicate that where certain quadrant preferences occur these may be functional to prison safety and alteration of these should be considered carefully. The research also indicated that current theories of boundary management may have some applicability but that within a prison setting these are complex and influenced by both internal organizational factors and those within the wider community. Further research ...

The relationship between trust in work colleagues, impact of boundary violations and burnout among staff within a forensic psychiatric service

“…As Lim et al (2010) explained, this might suggest that mental health professionals are likely to develop life experience with emotional maturity that serves as a coping strategy as they get older. This would also seem to support the findings of Worthington (2007Worthington ( , 2012 who suggested that length of service was related to development of more positive attitudes. According to Lim et al (2010), as mental health professionals grow older it is hypothesised that they become adept at dealing with their clients and providing treatment services; factors that they argue may contribute to higher levels of personal accomplishment.…”

“…In terms of the precursory factors for burnout, some literature has suggested that organisational factors such as work hours (Ray et al, 2013), work overload (Cox, 1993;Muldary, 1983) and length of service (Worthington, 2007(Worthington, , 2012 are important predictors of burnout. However, Lim et al (2010) propose that individual attributes are also relevant in understanding of burnout.…”

Understanding the needs of vulnerable prisoners: the role of social and emotional wellbeing

“…Factors such as privacy safety, structure, support, emotional feedback, social stimulation, activity, and freedom have all been identified as important influences here (Moos, 1968). For example, Worthington (2012) examined the influence of social climate within prisons, concluding that working in certain areas of the prison (described as ''dirty work'') was associated with lower levels of staff wellbeing and less positive interaction with prisoners. It is, however, the role that SEWB potentially plays in relation to organisational outcomes that are of most interest, particularly in relation to the good order and discipline of the prison, suicide prevention, and offender rehabilitation.…”

The impact of forensic work on home life: the role of emotional labour, segmentation/integration and social support

“…Furthermore, exploring the role of emotional labour in a prison setting, Worthington (2007) found that prison officers engaged in emotional labour as a way of protecting themselves from the spill-over of their home life into work. According to Worthington (2012), in the same way that emotional labour may be regarded as a form of inhibiting private experiences within the workplace, the management of boundaries between work and home may also serve the same function.…”

“…For example, Ashforth et al (2000) argue that segmentation provides clear boundaries between work and home that in turn reduces blurring between roles. In forensic work, this has been highlighted as an effective approach to prevent the spill-over between work and home (Worthington, 2012). However, the transition between roles may be more difficult as a result of the psychological and physical disparity.…”