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The Causes and Consequences of Job-Related Stress among Prosecutors

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Abstract

Despite a growing body of literature documenting work stress among employees in various fields, there is a dearth of research that explicitly assesses the impact of different aspects of prosecutors’ working conditions on individual prosecutors and their organizations. Drawing on a sample of prosecutors in a southern state in the U.S., we first used OLS regression to examine which work-related stressors are important in predicting their levels of work stress, job satisfaction, and turnover intention. Using path analysis, we then explored the links between these stressors and a set of proposed mediating and outcome variables. We also conducted unstructured in-depth interviews with a subset of the sample to supplement and further illustrate the observed patterns. While job demands and organizational support play the most important roles in explaining the work stress of prosecutors, they do not have direct impact on the prosecutor’s commitment to the job. The roles played by psychological and emotional stressors are found to be negligible. Job-related stressors do not lead to turnover intention directly but indirectly through work stress and job satisfaction with a notable exception of the public/media stressor. This study provides a scientifically-based perspective regarding which working conditions should be addressed to maintain healthy and productive working environments among prosecutors.

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Notes

  1. An alternative argument is that those who are physically/mentally healthy, equipped with social supports and desirable coping strategies (e.g., counseling, exercise, recreational activities, religion), are better able to cope with chronic stressors and accordingly less likely to experience stress while performing their job (moderating effect).

  2. We conducted mediation analyses using “model indirect” command in Mplus.

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Author notes

  1. Jeffrey A. Klingfuss

    Present address: Mississippi College School of Law, 151 E. Griffith Street, Jackson, MS, 39201, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Criminal Justice, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY, 524 West 59th Street, New York, NY, 10019, USA

    Chongmin Na

  2. Department of Criminal Justice, School of Arts and Letters, University of North Georgia, P.O. Box 1358, Gainesville, GA, 30503, USA

    Tae Choo

  3. Mississippi Attorney General’s Office, Jackson, MS, 39201, USA

    Jeffrey A. Klingfuss

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  1. Chongmin Na
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Correspondence to Chongmin Na.

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Appendix 1

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Table 4 Description of Individual Items Measuring Composite Scales
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Na, C., Choo, T. & Klingfuss, J.A. The Causes and Consequences of Job-Related Stress among Prosecutors. Am J Crim Just 43, 329–353 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12103-017-9396-4

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