The Effects of Work Demand and Resource Variables on Indian Prison Staff Job Involvement

Abstract

Prison officers not only affect prison operations, but correctional workplace variables also have effects on officers. Most of the past empirical research on this topic has focused on officers working in Western prisons. This study used the job demands–resources model to examine the effects of workplace variables in terms of job demands (e.g., perceived dangerousness of the job and role overload) and job resources (e.g., job autonomy, job variety, instrumental communication, and quality supervision) on job involvement among Indian prison officers using a sample of 163 prison officers from a prison in the state of Haryana in India. OLS regression indicated role overload, job autonomy, and instrumental communication all had nonsignificant effects, while job variety and quality supervision had positive effects on job involvement, as did the job demand of perceived dangerousness of the job. Similar to past research, the positive effects of job variety and quality supervision appear to be universal across prisons, as are the lack of direct effects for role overload and instrumental communication. Conversely, the effects of perceived dangerousness of the job and job autonomy appear to be contextual, varying across prisons in different nations.