VALUES, SIGNIFICANCE AND MOTIVATION AT WORK OF PRISON OFFICERS OF TWO DETENTION CENTERS IN BRAZIL

Abstract

The constructs values, significance of work and motivation represent key aspects to be considered in the career of any professional. In this study, the researchers’ interest was focused on detention officers working in prisons in the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil. Chiefly, the study aimed to investigate the prison officers’ values, motivation, significance of work based on their viewpoints. The study had 137 participants, of which 36 were female officers and 101 male officers. The methodological design of this research characterizes it as an applied, cross-sectional, descriptive, and quantitative survey. The instruments for data collection were the following: a sociodemographic questionnaire developed by the researchers for characterization of the sample; the Work Values Scale (WVS), validated in Brazil by Porto and Tamayo (2003), and the Inventory of Work Motivation and Meaning (IWMM), validated in Brazil by Borges and Alves Filho (2003). For data analysis, resources of descriptive statistics were used. Thus, this study took up the challenge of being a dialectical approach to the phenomenon in focus, based on the conception of work in a prison setting. The results show that to achieve professional stability, earn fair economic rewards and take up responsibilities are aspects of vital importance for the majority of the prison officers. The significance of work is directly associated with personal and family survival and the responsibility that they have both in the work and family contexts. Their motivation is associated with security and dignity. The main work-related aspect valued by prison officers is stability and the less important is prestige. At the end of the process of researching and producing knowledge, it is important to emphasize that important aspects about the prison officers’ work relations emerged, an activity that is intertwined by social stigmas that can affect all their living environments.