Job satisfaction among substance abuse treatment employees

Abstract

Job satisfaction is the evaluation of an individual of his(her) professional and work context. It is related to the emotional and psychological well-being of employees and to the organizational functioning in the workplace, and is one of the most commonly studied variables in organizational research. As many health care services, substance abuse treatment relies to a great extent on the efforts of the professionals, which are central to the success of treatment interventions. This is a review of the most recent reports on the levels of job satisfaction and its various different aspects among employees in drug abuse treatment organizations. The paper begins with the orientation to the concept of job satisfaction via the most common definitions, main dimensions and basic determinant factors. This is followed by presentation of aspects of employee job satisfaction in psychosocial care services in general and in drug addiction treatment organizations specifically. The review revealed that, although working in the field of drug addiction is connected with high levels of pressure, stress and turnover intent, in the majority of the studies the employees reported high levels of job satisfaction. The most significant predictors of a high level of job satisfaction were job autonomy, quality of relationships in the workplace and support from supervisors. Of great importance was a sense of justice, which is correlated with an equitable distribution of the workload and rewards, and fairness in decisionmaking procedures. In many cases the most satisfying aspects of work were reported to be derived from its nature, especially the sense of doing a task that is of value to society. Poor professional development opportunities and lack of support were the most common reasons given for dissatisfaction.