Bem-estar no trabalho e síndrome de Burnout: análise de faces opostas no cotidiano de servidores penitenciários gaúchos

Abstract

Correctional officers habitually experience a wide range of emotions, since they work in stressful environments, such as The Superintendency of Rio Grande do Sul Department of Corrections (SUSEPE). The work atmosphere in the prison facilities of that institution can unveil contrasting phenomena in officers’ routine, including Well-being at Work and Burnout Syndrome. Paschoal and Tamayo (2008, p. 16) define Well-being at Work as “the preponderance of positive emotions at work” and “the condition of a worker who perceives that, through his work, expresses and develop himself and reaches his life goals”. On the other hand, Burnout Syndrome is described as the effect of an incessant job stress (GIL-MONTE; CARLOTTO; CÂMARA, 2010). Thus, this study aims to analyze the perspectives of correctional officers from Rio Grande do Sul concerning the relation between Well-being at Work and Burnout Syndrome components. In order to achieve that objective, a descriptive research was conducted, based on a quantitative-method survey with a sample of 433 respondents. The research shows that Well-being at Work manifests itself partially in officers’ routine, while most of them demonstrate low levels of positive affection, low levels of negative affection and high levels of achievement. However, job stress and Burnout Syndrome were not detected. The majority of the participants evinced high levels of through-work illusion and low levels of psychological deterioration, indolence and self-reproach. Regarding the correlations between the constructs, all of them proved to be significant; the most prominent ones occurred between achievement and through-work illusion (direct relationship) and positive affection and psychological deterioration (inverse relationship). The results identified four notable connections between the levels of Well-being at Work and Burnout Syndrome; also, eight meaningful links between sociodemographic and occupational profiles’ inputs and levels of constructs from both subjects. Lastly, the study revealed that, when correctional officers’ achievement is increased, their through-work illusion tends to increase as well; besides, that the rise of positive affection reduces individual’s psychological deterioration.