The Relationship of Selected Organizational and Work Related Stress Factors to Indices of Job Satisfaction Among Rural Public Child Welfare Workers
Sundet, Paul Anthony
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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/71493
Description
Title
The Relationship of Selected Organizational and Work Related Stress Factors to Indices of Job Satisfaction Among Rural Public Child Welfare Workers
Author(s)
Sundet, Paul Anthony
Issue Date
1987
Department of Study
Social Work
Discipline
Social Work
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Social Work
Abstract
This study was designed to examine the relationship between job satisfaction and work environment factors among child welfare workers. The association of organization, workload and rural community factors to general, external and internal job satisfaction was correlated on a sample of one hundred fifteen line protective service caseworkers from two midwestern states. The Environment Problem Rating Scale (EPRS) was designed for this study to measure the independent variables. The Job Diagnostic Survey (JDS) was employed to rate job satisfaction. An additional measure of self-reported job stress was correlated with the environmental factors.
Job dissatisfaction was most strongly associated with organization factors such as the frequency of policy change and the imposition of external accountability systems. Relationship to workload factors including caseload size, complexity and dispersion was low. Rural community characteristics such as worker visibility and isolation proved insignificant. Self-reported job stress was more strongly associated with workload characteristics than either organization or workload elements.
The findings provide support for the contention that rural child welfare worker job dissatisfaction cannot be easily attributed to either the nature of the work they do nor to factors inherent in rurality. Organizational factors which are under the direct control of social service administrators appear, in this sample, to be the most potent sources of worker perceived problems.
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