correctional symptom to examine and adopt various methods to cope with changes and to foster systematic transformation (Battalino, Beutler, & Shani, 1996).
California is not unique in this regard because correctional job growth in the 1980s far outpaced that of any other category of nonfederal public employment. Nationally, the number of state prison workers grew 115 percent from 1980 to 1990, while local prison workers grew 98 percent (Patterson, 1992).
What this means, in essence, is that agencies such as the California Department of Corrections (CDC) have been challenged to reduce employee turnover and to improve levels of job satisfaction among correctional officers and other key workers in the penal system. It is this issue that will serve as the focus of the present thesis.
During the late 1970s and the early 1980s, the turnover rate among correctional officers working in various institutions throughout the state of California was 25 percent (Workers compensation alert, 2000). By 2000, concerted efforts undertaken by the institutions and such organizations as the California Correctional Peace Officers Association (CCPOA) has reduced the turnover rate among line officers to 8 percent. The results of this dramatic reduction include greater professionalism among officers, continuity in staffing, and significant savings for California taxpayers (Workers compensation alert, 2000).
Efforts to reduce turnover among CDC workers are many and varied. Battalino, Beutler, and Shani (1996) described the "Treatment of People Initiative" introduced in 1991 in order to improve staff interaction and ultimately reduce turnover in California. This program helps to provide the correctional system with a new culture supportive of people values in the workplace. By providing mechanisms for grievance amelioration and conflict resolution, and offering correctional officers unique training and educational opportunities, this p...