Occupational Stress and Its Relationship with Sociodemographic Variables in Penitentiary Servants

Abstract

The work in the prison system requires in addition to technical and scientific knowledge, the ability to manage emotions and to cope with the stress experienced, in order to maintain physical and psychological health and the quality of services provided to people deprived of their liberty. The purpose of this study was to analyze the occupational stress of penitentiary servers and to correlate it with sociodemographic variables. The development of the research was methodologically based on a cross-sectional and analytical study with 254 prison workers from the 3rd Penitentiary Region of the State of Rio Grande do Sul. Data collection was based on a sociodemographic, functional and Job Stress Scale. Among the participants who answered the questionnaires, it was identified that 52.4% were male, 72.4% were married or partners and had an average age of 41.62 years old, 55.9% had moderate intensity stress and 2.8% of the sample was at high level stress. From the results obtained, it is necessary to make a critical reflection on the conditions to which prison workers are exposed daily. The results also demonstrate that new actions of planning and interventions are needed to improve work in this troubled environment.