A Comparison of Line and Supervisory Officers and the Impact of Support on Commitment to the Prison Organization

With the increasing number of studies examining work outcomes among prison staff, it is surprising that little attention has been paid to corrections officers who hold supervisory positions. Using multivariate analysis of survey results from 2,302 corrections line officers and 369 supervisors employed in one Western prison system, this study examined the conditioning effect of supervisory status on an officer’s reported commitment to the organization. The results suggest that compared with line officers, supervisory officers experience significantly higher levels of commitment to the prison organization. Less variation was found in the manner and magnitude of the effects of individual-level variables (gender, race, age) and work environment variables (organizational support, hostile work environment, quality of supervision, coworker support) on organizational commitment for both groups. The findings provide insight into the importance of officers’ perceived sources of support and the need to encourage organizational commitment within an arguably difficult work environment.