David N. Baker

Job involvement, job stress, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment and the burnout of correctional staff

In an era in which rising costs, shrinking budgets, and personnel shortages are common, it is increasingly important to provide a positive work situation to ensure worker stability. Research indicates that job burnout is a negative response that is harmful to the employee and to the organization. Depersonalization, emotional exhaustion, and feeling a lack of accomplishment at work are all dimensions of job burnout. This study examined the association of job involvement, job stress, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment with burnout among correctional staff. The findings highlight the significance of these variables in relation to burnout. Specifically, job satisfaction had an inverse relationship with emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and a sense of reduced accomplishment at work, whereas job stress had a significant positive relationship with depersonalization and emotional exhaustion. Job involvement also had a positive association with emotional exhaustion, whereas commitment to the organization had no relationship with any of the three dimensions of burnout.

The Impact of Work-Family Conflict on Social Work and Human Service Worker Job Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment

Abstract The job stress literature for social workers has grown dramatically during the past twenty years, and it has shown that social service workers suffer from a significant amount of stress; however, Work-Family Conflict (WFC) is a stressor which has received little, if any, attention. WFC occurs when problems from work spillover in family life and vice versa, causing conflict. The four main types of WFC are family-based conflict (when problems at home spillover to work), time-based (when time at work takes away from family life), strain-based (when stress and strain from work causes problems at home), and behavior-based (when work roles cause problems at home or when home roles cause problems at work). This study examined the impact of different types of WFC on the job satisfaction and organizational commitment of social and human service workers. A survey of social and human service employees in Northwest Ohio was conducted in the Fall of 2002, and 255 surveys were returned. It was found that time-based conflict and behavior-based conflict had significant effects on job satisfaction, while strain-based conflict, and family-based conflict did not. Only behavior-based conflict had a significant impact on organizational commitment.

The Attitudes of Black and White College Students Toward Gays and Lesbians

Despite greater acceptance of gay rights and relationships in recent decades, significant homophobia still exists in the U.S. population. There are consistent demographic differences in levels of homophobia; specifically, men, older persons, less educated persons, and conservatives tend to be more homophobic than women, younger persons, more highly educated persons, and liberals. Additionally, there is a perception that Blacks are more homophobic than Whites, and that this difference is because of the importance of religion in the Black community, another factor frequently associated with homophobic attitudes. This perception has not been empirically tested to any great extent. In the current study of 551 Midwestern college students, both independent t-test results and ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analysis find that there are no significant racial differences between Black and White students in indexes measuring views toward, rights for, and willingness to socialize with gays and lesbians. Gender is a significant predictor of homophobia for both groups, although age and measures for the importance of religion are significant predictors for White students only.

THE GOOD LIFE: THE IMPACT OF JOB SATISFACTION AND OCCUPATIONAL STRESSORS ON CORRECTIONAL STAFF LIFE SATISFACTION—AN EXPLORATORY STUDY

ABSTRACT During the past twenty years, there has been significant growth in the literature on correctional staff Much of this literature has examined how the work environment helps shape the job satisfaction of correctional employees. Conversely, little empirical attention has been devoted to the broader concept of life satisfaction. The current study attempts to fill this empirical void by examining whetherjob satisfaction and occupational stressors (in the forms of job stress, work-family conflict, role stress, and perceived dangerous) had any impact on the life satisfaction of correctional staff. Based on a multi-variate analysis, we find that job satisfaction, job stress, work-family conflict, and dangerousness had significant effects on life satisfaction. An additional analysis of the effects of life satisfaction revealed a significant relationship to workers’ turnover intentions.

Racial Differences in Death Penalty Support and Opposition A Preliminary Study of White and Black College Students

Although the death penalty has a long history, it is not without debate and differing views. There appears to be a gap between Whites and Blacks in terms of their support of capital punishment. Students at a Midwestern university were surveyed to determine whether there were differences between the two groups of students in reasons to support or oppose the death penalty. In bivariate tests, there were significant differences between White and Black students on 15 of 16 measures for reasons for supporting or opposing capital punishment. These differences continued for 10 of the 16 measures even after multivariate analysis controlled for the effects of gender, age, and academic level. The results are discussed.

Policing views from around the globe: An exploratory study of the views of college students from Bangladesh, Canada, Nigeria, and the United States

Although many forces influence how the police operate and how the public views them, cross-national studies on attitudes of the police are rare; therefore, this exploratory study, which examined the views of trust in police and police civility among a convenience sample of 1,425 students from five universities in four different nations, was conducted. U.S. respondents had the highest views of trust in police and police civility, whereas Bangladeshi and Nigerian college students had the lowest levels; Canadian views were in between the other nations. Social perspectives, history of policing, and sociopolitical structure are salient factors that may contribute to differing views in different countries.

A Preliminary Study of Gender Differences in Death Penalty Views of College Students From Bangladesh, China, Nigeria, and the United States

This study examined whether there were any gender differences among college students in Bangladesh (N = 258), China (N = 524), Nigeria (N = 274), and the United States (N = 484) in death penalty support and belief in the criminological ideologies (retribution, deterrence, incapacitation, morality, life without parole, and innocence) to support or oppose it. No significant gender difference between men and women in the overall level of death penalty support was observed except in the United States. In addition, although there were some gender-based differences in reasons to support or oppose the death penalty, the differences were not as common and only rarely as pronounced as in the United States. The findings indicate that the gender gap in capital punishment views may be limited to the United States.

The first aldehyde-derived crystalline geminal diol lacking internal electronic stabilization

The first stable crystalline geminal diol of an aldehyde lacking electron-withdrawing groups on theα-carbon was synthesized fromd-sorbitol and characterized by1H and13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and single-crystal x-ray studies. Each hydroxyl is a donor for a single, unique intermolecular hydrogen bond. Only one hydroxyl acts as an acceptor. No intramolecular hydrogen bonding is observed in the crystal.

Formal and Informal Crime Control Views in Bangladesh and the United States

Crime control methods can be grouped into two major categories: formal and informal. Formal crime control uses the law and government agencies (e.g., police, courts, and prisons) to deter crime, whereas informal crime control utilizes moral and social institutions (e.g., the family, religion, peers, and neighborhood groups) to deter illegal behaviors. This exploratory study used t tests, chi-square tests, ordinal ordered regression, and ordinary least squares regression analyses of survey data from 258 Bangladeshi and 484 U.S. college students to explore students’ perceptions of formal and informal crime control. Bangladeshi students had more support for both formal and informal crime controls than their U.S. counterparts; however, U.S. students were more likely to feel that being rejected by family, neighbors, and peers was effective at deterring crime. Both groups felt that punishment by the law was needed to deter repeat offenders. When asked to rank formal and informal crime control mechanisms, Bangladeshi students ranked family higher than U.S. students did, whereas U.S. students ranked the importance of peers higher than Bangladeshi students. Bangladeshi respondents also ranked the neighborhood as being important to controlling crime. Overall, the results indicated that Bangladeshi respondents strongly supported most methods of both formal and informal crime control. U.S. respondents were generally more supportive of formal than informal methods, although they were less supportive than Bangladeshi respondents, perhaps because of pessimism over longstanding issues with crime.

Crime Views on Two Continents: An Exploratory Study of Views of Nigerian and U.S. College Students Toward Crime, Criminals, Treatment, and Punishment

World views, including views toward crime, criminals, punishment, and treatment, are shaped by societys social structure, culture, and the dominant political/economic paradigms. These views are known to differ widely from society to society and even within a society. This study compares the crime views of Nigerian undergraduate students with that of undergraduate students in the United States of America. Findings from this study indicate significant differences in views between Nigerian and American college students toward crime, criminals, punishment, and treatment. Interestingly, there were also mixed views on punishment and rehabilitation among Nigerian respondents, which may reflect the dichotomy of the restorative justice‐based informal criminal justice system and the more punitive official criminal justice system. The differences in views regarding crime and criminality are attributed partly to the cultural differences and the level of economic and technological developments between the two countries.