Job satisfaction and a sense of purpose at work among prisoners

Abstract

Work is one of the most important factors of rehabilitation. It instils in prisoners the spirit of prosocial behavior, and is conducive to developing attitudes generally viewed as socially desirable. It is the instrument for achieving re-education as well as preventing recidivism. The high level of sense of work leads to greater satisfaction and involvement of prisoners. It helps one to find him/herself in the labor market after being released from prison. The present research involves 198 hired convicts from Lublin Remand Centre and it has been carried out by applying M. Steger’s WAMI questionnaire, A. Zalewska’s Satisfaction With Job Scale and the authors’ survey. This research gives an answer to the question: is there a correlation between job satisfaction and the sense of purpose of work, and are the respondents planning to find a job after their sentence? Prisoners with a higher degree of personal sense of work are more likely to: feel greater satisfaction from their work, act for the benefit of the general public, make more realistic plans involving their release, and better prepared for finding themselves on the labor market after expiration of a sentence. Job satisfaction among working prisoners depends on payment. The high degree of prisoners sense of purpose of work and satisfaction with it are significant factors of the involvement in the reintegration process.

Keywords

• prisoner’s work
• sense of work
• job satisfaction