The Development of Prison Officers’ Job Satisfaction and its Impact on Depersonalization of Incarcerated Persons: The Role of Organizational Dehumanization

Abstract

This article contributes to the literature on the antecedents and consequences of prison officers’ job satisfaction. First, we argue that organizational dehumanization (i.e., employees’ perceptions of being treated as tools by their organization) explains how work environment factors determine job satisfaction. Second, we propose that the role played by organizational dehumanization in the development of job satisfaction carries over depersonalization of incarcerated persons. The study (N = 357 Belgian prison officers) supports the mediating role of organizational dehumanization in the relationships between four work environment factors (organizational justice, appropriateness of material resources, quality of the physical environment, and perceived organizational support compared with that of the persons who are incarcerated) and job satisfaction. In addition, the findings indicate that prison officers’ perception of being dehumanized by their prison trickles down in the development of depersonalized relationships with incarcerated persons, and this effect is mediated by prison officers’ job satisfaction.