Vulnerability to Stress in Penitentiary Security Agents

Abstract

Penitentiary Security Agent activities can make them vulnerable to stress due to factors such as pressure for working long hours, tense environment and a continuous hazard exposure. This is a field research of quantitative bias, descriptive, comparative and correlational, with the objective of assessing the vulnerability to stress of Penitentiary Security Agents of a Prison Unit in the interior of Minas Gerais. The instruments which were applied were: structured interview followed by “Workplace Stress Scale”. The sample was of 95 Penitentiary Security Agents who deal directly with the prisoners. The results obtained were: a) in general, vulnerability to stress in Penitentiary Security Agents of the Prison Unit was demonstrated superior in 53.7% of the agents; b) regarding the climate and organizational functioning, the classification was median superior; c) in the factor Pressure at workplace, the vulnerability was median superior; d) regarding the factor Infrastructure and Routine, the vulnerability was classified as superior in 70.5% of the Agents. It was found that single Agents are more vulnerable to stress in all of the researched factors. It was concluded that prison security agents of a prison unit in the interior of Minas Gerais are vulnerable to stress, and public policies should be developed in order to combat the actual phenomenon.

Keywords:
Stress; Work; Workplace stress scale; Penitentiary Security Agent