MANAGEMENT STYLE AND ITS EFFECT ON PRISON OFFICERS STRESS

This study investigates the impact of the work environment on the leve l of perceived job stress in prison officers, Two models of prison adm inistration were assessed in an attempt to identify the organizational structures and processes which were related to level of occupational stress, To identify the impact of occupational stress on prison office rs, the bureaucratic and unit management models of prison administrati on are compared with respect to officer job characteristics and manage ment processes, The Occupational Role questionnaire and the State-Trai t Anxiety Inventory were administered to 112 prison officers, A multiv ariate analysis identified a significant main effect for prison manage ment type, On all measures, prison officers from the bureaucratic mana gement model (Pentridge Prison) scored higher than officers from a uni t management model (Barwon Prison), Role boundary, physical environmen t and trait anxiety were the most salient discriminators between offic ers from Pentridge and Barwon.