An Evaluation of Work-Related Stress among Probation Officers in Nairobi County

In the course of their work, probation officers interact with various types of offenders, offenders’ families, the victims of the crimes, court officers, the police and other persons affected by the offences. As a result of this interaction it has been found that probation officers experience high levels of work-related stress. The main objective of the study was to evaluate the work-related stress amongst probation officers in Nairobi County. The study addressed the work-related stressors experienced by probation officers in the course of their work, how work-related stress experienced by probation officers affect the services offered to offenders and how probation officers cope with the work-related stress. A descriptive survey design was adopted by the study. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire fitted with a Likert scale that was administered to 45 probation officers in Nairobi County. All the completed questionnaires were entered into IBM SPSS® Version 23.0 software and data analyzed for quantitative and inferential statistics. The findings of the study indicated that a majority of Probation Officers in Nairobi experience Work-Related stress as they have high levels of job demand and low levels of job control. The study also found that this stress had correlation with turnover intent, job satisfaction and organizational commitment. It was also found that probation officers coped with stress by mainly talking to colleagues, friends and family members. The study recommends that the department of Probation and Aftercare Services allows the officers more independence in how they conduct their duties, puts effort to reward the well performing officers and provides Clinical Supervision to allay the effects of Work-Related Stress amongst the probation officers.