Work–Family Conflict’s Association With the Work Attitudes of Job Involvement, Job Satisfaction, and Organizational Commitment Among Southern Prison Staff

Authors

• Eric G. Lambert, University of Nevada, Reno
• Weston Morrow, University of Nevada, Reno
• Samuel G. Vickovic, California State University, Long Beach
• Matthew C. Leone, University of Nevada, Reno
• Linda D. Keena, University of Mississippi
• Stacy H. Haynes, Mississippi State University
• David C. May, Mississippi State University

ORCID

Haynes: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1408-9291; May: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8275-6773

MSU Affiliation

College of Arts and Sciences; Department of Sociology

Creation Date

2026-06-01

Abstract

Prisons depend on their employees, and staffing a prison is expensive. Approximately 80% of a prison’s budget is for staff wages and benefits. Prisons are not generally viewed as desirable places to work, thus recruiting and retaining correctional officers can be difficult. Work-related stress can negatively affect staff members’ home lives, and home stress can make an employee distracted and endangered at work. Time-, strain-, behavior-, and family-based work–family conflicts were hypothesized to impact three work attitudes (job involvement, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment) negatively. Time-based conflict had no significant effects on any of the work attitudes. Strain-based conflict had significant negative effects on job satisfaction and organizational commitment but not job involvement. Behavior-based conflict had significant negative effects on all three work attitudes. Contrary to our hypotheses, family-based conflict had significant positive effects on all three. Work–family conflict is a significant work attitude-associated stressor for correctional staff; therefore, policy recommendations to address it are made.

Publication Date

3-30-2021

Publication Title

Criminal Justice Policy Review

Publisher

SAGE Publications

First Page

865

Last Page

889

Rights

© The Author(s) 2021

Recommended Citation

Lambert, E. G., Morrow, W., Vickovic, S. G., Leone, M. C., Keena, L. D., Haynes, S. H., & May, D. (2021). Work–Family Conflict’s Association With the Work Attitudes of Job Involvement, Job Satisfaction, and Organizational Commitment Among Southern Prison Staff. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 32(8), 865-889.