Working Conditions and Meanings of Working Experience: The Case of the Justice Workers

Main Article Content

Elka Lima Hostensky
Josep Maria Blanch
Paola Ochoa
Vera Regina Roesler

Abstract

Introduction. The optimal functioning of organizations requires that workers are satisfied with their working conditions and assign positive meanings to their work activity. The reforms of the Brazilian judicial system created opportunities to improve services and customer service. The objective of this investigation was to analyze the relationship that justice workers establish between the evaluation of their working conditions and the subjectivation of their own professional experience, understood as the set of meanings they give to this work. Method. A sample of 1,537 workers in the sector answered the Questionnaire on Working Conditions (qCT) and a question about the meaning of their own work experience. A correspondence analysis made it possible to represent in contingency tables the relationships between the categories of quantitative assessment of working conditions and the qualitative meanings attributed to work experience. Results. Those who scored negatively on working conditions evaluated their work experience in terms of discomfort, fatigue, injustice and little commitment. Those who rated them positively judged their experience in terms of opportunities, relationships, and commitment. Conclusions. The study provides empirical foundations and theoretical criteria for a redesign of the working conditions of the justice system that minimize psychosocial risks for civil servants.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Article Details

Section
ESPECIAL - Trabalho e Saúde Face às Metamorfoses Contemporâneas

References

Bakker, A. B., & Demerouti, E. (2018). Multiple levels in job demands-resources theory: Implications for employee well-being and performance. In E. Diener, S. Oishi & L. Tay (Eds.), Handbook of well-being (pp. 1–13). DEF Publishers.

Bauer, G., & Jenny, G. (Eds). (2013). Salutogenic organizations and change: The concepts behind organizational health intervention research. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6470-5

Bazex, H. (2012). Les facteurs et les effets du stress chez les juges des enfants. Annales Médico-Psychologiques, 170(2), 127–131. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amp.2012.01.017

Blanch, J. M. (2020). Being business, una emergente maladie du siècle. In M. C. Ferreira & J. T. R. Falcão (Coords.), Intensificação, precarização, esvaziamento do trabalho e margens de enfrentamento (pp. 21–49). EDUFRN.

Blanch, J. M. (2021). El nuevo espaciotiempo de trabajo, un desafío para la calidad de vida laboral. Praxis Psy, 22(35), 65–78. https://doi.org/10.32995/praxispsy.v22i35.159

Blanch, J. M., Sahagún, M., & Cervantes, G. (2010). Estructura factorial de la Escala de Condiciones de Trabajo. Revista de Psicología del Trabajo y las Organizaciones, 26(3), 175–189. https://doi.org/10.5093/tr2010v26n3a2

Blanco-Donoso, L. M., Moreno-Jiménez, J., Gallego-Alberto, L., Amutio, A., Moreno-Jiménez, B., & Garrosa E. (2021). Satisfied as professionals, but also exhausted and worried!!: The role of job demands, resources and emotional experiences of Spanish nursing home workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Health & Social Care in the Community, 30(1), e148-e160. https://doi.org/10.1111/hsc.13422

Brasil. (2004, 30 de dezembro). Emenda Constitucional n. 45, de 30 de dezembro de 2004. Diário Oficial [da] República Federativa do Brasil.

Carlotto, M. S., & Câmara, S. (2019). Burnout syndrome in public servants: Prevalence and association with occupational stressors. Psico-USF, 24(3), 425–435. https://doi.org/10.1590/1413-82712019240302

Eurofound. (2020). Living, working and COVID-19 dataset. Eurofound. https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/data/covid-19

Gil-Monte, P. R., López-Vílchez, J., Llorca-Rubio, J. L., & Sánchez, J. (2016). Prevalencia de riesgos psicosociales en personal de la administración de justicia de la comunidad valenciana. Liberabit, 22(1), 7–19.

Granero, A., Blanch, J. M., & Ochoa, P. (2018). Condições de trabalho e significados do trabalho em enfermagem em Barcelona. Revista Latino-Americana de Enfermagem, 26, e2947 https://doi.org/10.1590/1518-8345.2342.2947

Hagen, T., & Bogaerts, S. (2014). Work pressure and sickness absenteeism among judges. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 21(1), 92–111. https://doi.org/10.1080/13218719.2013.790003

Jaffe, P. G., Crooks, C. V., Dunford-Jackson, B. L., & Town, M. (2009). Vicarious trauma in judges: The personal challenge of dispensing justice. Juvenile and Family Court Journal, 54(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1755-6988.2003.tb00083.x

Jueces para la Democracia. (2014). Informe urgente sobre riesgos psicosociales y carga de trabajo en la carrera judicial. http://www.juecesdemocracia.es/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/INFORME-ENCUESTA-RIESGOS-PSICOSOCIALES.pdf

Leclerc, M.-E., Wemmers, J.-A., & Brunet, A. (2019). The unseen cost of justice: Post-traumatic stress symptoms in Canadian lawyers. Psychology, Crime and Law, 26(1), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/1068316X.2019.1611830

Leiter, M. P., & Maslach, C. (2017). Burnout and engagement: Contributions to a new vision. Burnout Research, 5, 55–57.

Léonard, M. J., Saumier, D., & Brunet, A. (2020). When the lawyer becomes traumatized: A scoping review. SAGE Open, 10(3), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244020957032

Lustig, S. L., Karnik, N., Delucchi, K., Tennakoon, L., Brent, K., Marks, D. L., & Slavin, H. D. (2008a). Burnout and stress among United States immigration judges. Bender’s Immigration Bulletin, 13(1), 22–35. https://www.naij-usa.org/images/uploads/publications/Burnout-and-Stress-Among-United-StatesImmigration-Judges_01-01-08_1.pdf

Lustig, S. L., Karnik, N., Delucchi, K., Tennakoon, L., Brent, K., Marks, D. L., & Slavin, H. D. (2008b). Inside the judges’ chambers: Narrative responses from the National Association of Immigration Judges Stress and Burnout Survey. Georgetown Immigration Law Journal, 23, 57–83.

Maguire, G., & Byrne, M. K. (2017). The law is not as blind as it seems: Relative rates of vicarious trauma among lawyers and mental health professionals. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 24(2), 233–243. https://doi.org/10.1080/13218719.2016.1220037

Maslach, C., & Leiter, M. P. (2008). The truth about burnout: How organizations cause personal stress and what to do about it. John Wiley & Sons.

Morisson, A. & Doussineau, M. (2019). Regional innovation governance and place based policies: Design, implementation and implications. Regional Studies, Regional Science, 6(1), 101–116. https://doi.org/10.1080/21681376.2019.1578257

Ochoa, P., & Blanch, J. M. (2016). Work, malaise, and well-being in Spanish and Latin-American doctors. Revista de Saúde Pública, 50, 21. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1518-8787.2016050005600

Ochoa, P., & Coello-Montecel, D. (2020). The Working Conditions Questionnaire: Cross-cultural validation and scale refinement in six Ibero-American countries. Employee Relations: The International Journal, 43(5), 1016–1028. https://doi.org/10.1108/ER-05-2020-0240

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). (2020). COVID-19: Protecting people and societies. https://www.oecd.org/coronavirus/policy-responses/covid-19-protecting-people-and-%20societies-e5c9de1a/

Perales, A., Chue, H., Padilla, A., & Barahona, L. (2011). Estrés, ansiedad y depresión en magistrados de Lima, Perú. Revista Peruana de Medicina Experimental y Salud Pública, 28(4), 581–588. https://doi.org/10.17843/rpmesp.2011.284.419

Rigotti, T., Yang, L.-Q., Jiang, Z., Newman, A., De Cuyper, N., & Sekiguchi, T. (2021), Work-related psychosocial risk factors and coping resources during the COVID-19 crisis. Applied Psychology, 70, 3–15. https://doi.org/10.1111/apps.12307

Rocha, K. B., Carlotto, M. S., & Pizzinato, A. (2014). Trastornos mentales comunes y calidad de vida: Un estudio de trabajadores del sector público. Apuntes de Psicología, 31(3), 283–290.

Sinclair, R. R., Probst, T. M., Watson, G. P., & Bazzoli, A. (2021). Caught between Scylla and Charybdis: How economic stressors and occupational risk factors influence workers’ occupational health reactions to COVID-19. Applied Psychology, 70, 85–119. https://doi.org/10.1111/apps.12301

Toia, A., Begazo, L., Díaz, B., Rodríguez, A., Mendoza, G., & Málaga, G. (2020). Burnout y calidad de vida profesional en operadores de justicia que atienden violencia familiar. Revista Peruana de Medicina Experimental y Salud Pública, 37(3), 589–590. https://doi.org/10.17843/rpmesp.2020.373.5276

Uribe J. F., López, P. L., Pérez, C., & García, A. (2014). Síndrome de desgaste ocupacional (burnout) y su relación con salud y riesgo psicosocial en funcionarios públicos que imparten justicia en México, D.F. Acta de Investigación Psicológica, 4(2), 1554–1571. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2007-4719(14)70393-X

Weir, P., Jones, L., & Sheeran, N. (2020). Australian lawyers’ experience of exposure to traumatic material: A qualitative study. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 28(3), 363–381. https://doi.org/10.1080/13218719.2020.1776650