Burnout among Danish prison personnel: A question of quantitative and emotional demands

Dorte Raaby Andersen; Lars Peter Andersen; Charlotte Ann Gadegaard; Annie Høgh; Annick Prieur; Thomas Lund

doi:10.1177/1403494817718644

Burnout among Danish prison personnel: A question of quantitative and emotional demands

Dorte Raaby Andersen^*, Lars Peter Andersen, Charlotte Ann Gadegaard, Annie Høgh, Annick Prieur, Thomas Lund

^*Corresponding author for this work

6 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Objectives The objective of this follow-up study was to investigate associations between individual, occupational and work environment factors and burnout among both uniformed and non-uniformed personnel working in the Danish Prison and Probation Service. Methods The participants (N = 4808) with client contact received a questionnaire in 2010 and again in 2011. In 2010, 2843 participants responded to the questionnaire (59.1%), and in 2011, 1741 responded to the questionnaire, yielding a response rate of 61.2% of the baseline population, and 36.2% of the invited population. Burnout and work characteristics were measured with validated scales from the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire, and data was analysed by logistic regression. Results Risk factors with the highest impact on burnout were work environmental factors: quantitative demands, emotional demands, involvement in and meaning of work. Role conflict, role clarity, social support and demands for hiding emotions had borderline significance. Besides cohabitation, there was no association between individual factors and burnout or between occupational characteristics and burnout. Moreover, there was no association between exposure to threats and violence and burnout. Conclusions: Efforts for preventing burnout ought to be concentrated on reducing the quantitative job-demands, on easing and improving staff–inmate relationships, but also on involvement in and meaning of work. Most work in prison is invisible and the overall goals are in conflict with each other. Management must provide solutions to problems of role conflict and support groups for social support. There is a risk of burnout among both uniformed personnel and non-uniformed personnel working in both open and closed facilities.

Original language	English
Book series	Scandinavian Journal of Public Health
Volume	45
Issue number	8
Pages (from-to)	824-830
Number of pages	7
ISSN	1403-4948
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/1403494817718644
Publication status	Published - 1 Dec 2017

Keywords

Follow-up study
mental health
prison
work environment

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1177/1403494817718644

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title = "Burnout among Danish prison personnel: A question of quantitative and emotional demands",

abstract = "Objectives The objective of this follow-up study was to investigate associations between individual, occupational and work environment factors and burnout among both uniformed and non-uniformed personnel working in the Danish Prison and Probation Service. Methods The participants (N = 4808) with client contact received a questionnaire in 2010 and again in 2011. In 2010, 2843 participants responded to the questionnaire (59.1%), and in 2011, 1741 responded to the questionnaire, yielding a response rate of 61.2% of the baseline population, and 36.2% of the invited population. Burnout and work characteristics were measured with validated scales from the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire, and data was analysed by logistic regression. Results Risk factors with the highest impact on burnout were work environmental factors: quantitative demands, emotional demands, involvement in and meaning of work. Role conflict, role clarity, social support and demands for hiding emotions had borderline significance. Besides cohabitation, there was no association between individual factors and burnout or between occupational characteristics and burnout. Moreover, there was no association between exposure to threats and violence and burnout. Conclusions: Efforts for preventing burnout ought to be concentrated on reducing the quantitative job-demands, on easing and improving staff–inmate relationships, but also on involvement in and meaning of work. Most work in prison is invisible and the overall goals are in conflict with each other. Management must provide solutions to problems of role conflict and support groups for social support. There is a risk of burnout among both uniformed personnel and non-uniformed personnel working in both open and closed facilities.",

keywords = "Follow-up study, mental health, prison, work environment",

author = "Andersen, {Dorte Raaby} and Andersen, {Lars Peter} and Gadegaard, {Charlotte Ann} and Annie H{\o}gh and Annick Prieur and Thomas Lund",

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T1 - Burnout among Danish prison personnel

T2 - A question of quantitative and emotional demands

AU - Andersen, Dorte Raaby

AU - Andersen, Lars Peter

AU - Gadegaard, Charlotte Ann

AU - Høgh, Annie

AU - Prieur, Annick

AU - Lund, Thomas

PY - 2017/12/1

Y1 - 2017/12/1

N2 - Objectives The objective of this follow-up study was to investigate associations between individual, occupational and work environment factors and burnout among both uniformed and non-uniformed personnel working in the Danish Prison and Probation Service. Methods The participants (N = 4808) with client contact received a questionnaire in 2010 and again in 2011. In 2010, 2843 participants responded to the questionnaire (59.1%), and in 2011, 1741 responded to the questionnaire, yielding a response rate of 61.2% of the baseline population, and 36.2% of the invited population. Burnout and work characteristics were measured with validated scales from the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire, and data was analysed by logistic regression. Results Risk factors with the highest impact on burnout were work environmental factors: quantitative demands, emotional demands, involvement in and meaning of work. Role conflict, role clarity, social support and demands for hiding emotions had borderline significance. Besides cohabitation, there was no association between individual factors and burnout or between occupational characteristics and burnout. Moreover, there was no association between exposure to threats and violence and burnout. Conclusions: Efforts for preventing burnout ought to be concentrated on reducing the quantitative job-demands, on easing and improving staff–inmate relationships, but also on involvement in and meaning of work. Most work in prison is invisible and the overall goals are in conflict with each other. Management must provide solutions to problems of role conflict and support groups for social support. There is a risk of burnout among both uniformed personnel and non-uniformed personnel working in both open and closed facilities.

AB - Objectives The objective of this follow-up study was to investigate associations between individual, occupational and work environment factors and burnout among both uniformed and non-uniformed personnel working in the Danish Prison and Probation Service. Methods The participants (N = 4808) with client contact received a questionnaire in 2010 and again in 2011. In 2010, 2843 participants responded to the questionnaire (59.1%), and in 2011, 1741 responded to the questionnaire, yielding a response rate of 61.2% of the baseline population, and 36.2% of the invited population. Burnout and work characteristics were measured with validated scales from the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire, and data was analysed by logistic regression. Results Risk factors with the highest impact on burnout were work environmental factors: quantitative demands, emotional demands, involvement in and meaning of work. Role conflict, role clarity, social support and demands for hiding emotions had borderline significance. Besides cohabitation, there was no association between individual factors and burnout or between occupational characteristics and burnout. Moreover, there was no association between exposure to threats and violence and burnout. Conclusions: Efforts for preventing burnout ought to be concentrated on reducing the quantitative job-demands, on easing and improving staff–inmate relationships, but also on involvement in and meaning of work. Most work in prison is invisible and the overall goals are in conflict with each other. Management must provide solutions to problems of role conflict and support groups for social support. There is a risk of burnout among both uniformed personnel and non-uniformed personnel working in both open and closed facilities.

KW - Follow-up study

KW - mental health

KW - prison

KW - work environment

U2 - 10.1177/1403494817718644

DO - 10.1177/1403494817718644

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 28730915

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SP - 824

EP - 830

JO - Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, Supplement

JF - Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, Supplement

IS - 8

ER -

Burnout among Danish prison personnel: A question of quantitative and emotional demands

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

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