The link between attitudes toward probationers and job burnout in Turkish probation officers

Abstract

The goal of the current study was to investigate individual-level factors associated with job burnout among probation officers (POs) and, specifically, to examine if attitudes toward probationers were linked with job burnout in the context of the recently established probation system in Turkey. Participants (N = 115) were recruited from a probation office in Istanbul. Job burnout was assessed via three components: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and professional accomplishment. Results of structural equation modeling indicated that more favorable attitudes toward probationers were related to a lower sense of depersonalization and higher experience of professional accomplishment. However, POs’ attitudes toward probationers were not associated with emotional exhaustion. Our findings are discussed in light of the present empirical literature on the contextual factors influential in job burnout. Practical implications for burnout prevention point to the potential effectiveness of working on attitudes among POs toward the people they supervise.