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41 Crim. Just. & Behavior 4 (2014)

handle is hein.journals/crmjusbhv41 and id is 1 raw text is: CAREER STAGE THEORY AND TURNOVER INTENT AMONG CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS MARIE L. GRIFFIN Arizona State University NANCY L. HOGAN Ferris State University ERIC G. LAMBERT Wayne State University Prior research on correctional staff turnover intent and turnover generally assumes that staff are impacted by the workplace in a similar manner regardless of career stage. This study examined whether correctional officers (N = 2,621) with a Southwestern correctional agency differed in their level of turnover intent across different career stages, and whether the impact of work environment variables on turnover intent varied across career stages. Results indicated that turnover intent was lowest among staff with less than 1 year into their careers, and that the effects of work environment variables on turnover intent varied greatly across the 4 career stages. Commitment to the organization was the only work environment variable to be a significant predictor of intent to leave among four career stages, with a negative association in each of the four career groups. Keywords: correctional staff; job satisfaction; organizational commitment; turnover intent; career stage theory A CAREER STAGE ANALYSIS OF CORRECTIONAL STAFF TURNOVER INTENT Staff turnover remains a significant problem in the field of corrections (Tipton, 2002). In 2004, nearly half of U.S. correctional departments reported facing difficulties recruiting and retaining staff (Sumter, 2008). In a speech at the American Correctional Association's (ACA) Winter Conference, ACA President Gwendolyn Chunn recognized turnover as a salient issue that drained valuable resources from correctional organizations (ACA, 2005). It is estimated that the annual rate of correctional staff turnover ranges from 15% to 25% (Blakely & Bumphus, 2004; Minor, Wells, Angel, & Matz, 2011). It is not surprising that correctional scholars continue to explore issues of retention and turnover given that cor- rectional institutions are labor-intensive organizations, with staff accounting for approxi- mately 70% of all expenditures at a typical correctional facility (Camp & Gaes, 2002). Correctional officers are particularly important, given that their primary responsibility is AUTHORS' NOTE: The authors thank Janet Lambert for editing and proofreading the article. The authors also thank the anonymous reviewers and the editor for their comments and suggestions. These comments and suggestions improved the article. All the authors contributed equally and are listed in random order Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Marie L. Griffin, School of Criminology & Criminal Justice, Arizona State University, 411 N. Central Ave., Ste. 600, Phoenix, AZ 85004-0685; e-mail: Marie. Griffin@asu. edu. CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND BEHAVIOR, Vol. 41, No. 1, January 2014,4-19. DOI: 10.1177/0093854813503638 © 2013 International Association for Correctional and Forensic Psychology 4

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