Kriminalvårdaren

: empati och upplevd arbetsrelaterad stress

Abstract

Empathy is a particularly important ability of the correctional officer and in the interaction with their colleagues, also with those in prison and detention centers. The study aimed to investi- gate empathy in prison correctional officers in relation to work-related stress and demo- graphic variables. In the study,76 participants were recruited through social media, with a spread across Sweden. The results showed that there were no difference in empathy re- garding gender. The work-related stress is greater in women than in men according to the study's results, which confirms previous studies. Furthermore, the results of the study show that imagination and personal distress decline with age. For years of employment the results showed a decline in empathy. The results for educational level shows that empathy declined with higher education, which contradicts previous research. Further research can focus on including larger samples and examining person-specific factors along with the variables and demographic information such as age, gender and educational level.