Date of Award

12-1999

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

Sociology

First Advisor

Dr. Susan Caulfield

Second Advisor

Dr. Ron Kramer

Third Advisor

Dr. Zoann Snyder

Access Setting

Masters Thesis-Open Access

Abstract

In the examination of the literature dealing with stress as it relates to corrections, normally "juvenile corrections workers are not considered, due to the dearth of stress-related research" (Huckabbe, 1992, p. 479). This thesis is a qualitative project designed to analyze detention workers' views on stress. I was interested in finding out the following two things: (1) the workers' identification of the major stressors in their job, and (2) the ways the workers coped with the stressors identified.

Structured interviews were conducted with one third (12) of the detention staff that worked at a forty bed juvenile detention center in Michigan. The interviews were hand recorded and then the findings were reported and analyzed for patterns in the responses to the interview schedule.

Two major stressors were identified: (1) poor relationships between the staff and the administrative personnel, and (2) the job position of supervisor. The coping process was a relatively quick process, except for workers who were supervisors.

Included in

Sociology Commons

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