The Examination of Correctional Officers’ Organizational Commitment

The present study assessed the organizational commitment of 189 correctional officers at four Maryland State prisons representing multiple security levels (pre-release, minimum, medium, and maximum) using the Organizational Commitment Questionnaire (OCQ) (Mowday, Steers, & Porter, 1979). Results indicated that officers with greater years of military service and those that chose corrections as a career reported higher OCQ scores while those with a college degree or graduate school education reported lower OCQ scores. However, in the multivariate analysis, having more years of military service was the only predictor of OCQ. These findings indicate that a more thorough and comprehensive understanding of correctional officers may contribute to greater knowledge of the systemic dynamics of inmate confining organizations.