Emotional Intelligence, Job Satisfaction and Mentoring Support as Facilitators of Correctional Officers’ Career Resilience in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria

Abstract

Career resilience entails developing and utilizing positive responses when one faces with challenges in one’s place of work. Nigeria prison officers are faced with several challenges which include, few number of prison officers compare with a larger population of inmates in congested prisons across the country, inadequate funding, flaw on the extant prison laws, lack of rehabilitative and correctional facilities, ever-increasing problems of prison administration, corruption among few high ranking officers, the prison system which was designed for correction of prison inmates through counselling, rehabilitations and reform of inmates, has turned out to be a breeding ground for hardened criminals who become worse than they were when they got into prison. In today’s world it has become very important in any organisation prison inclusive to have innovative ideas and be creative on how to overcome the challenges so as to be efficient and productive in one’s day to day activities. This study, therefore, investigated the influence of emotional intelligence, job satisfaction and mentoring support on the career resilience of Correctional officers in Ibadan, Oyo state, Nigeria. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design and purposive sampling in the selection of two hundred prison officers. Three research questions were raised and answered in the study. The variables were measured with relevant standardized instruments. These include: Emotional Intelligence Scale (EIS), Job Satisfaction Scale (JSS), Mentoring Support Scale (MSS) and Career Resilience Scale (CRS). Data from the study were analyzed using the Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) and multiple regression analysis (ANOVA). The finding showed that there was a significant relationship between the dependent and independents variables. Emotional intelligence is the most potent contributor to career resilience followed by job satisfaction and mentoring support. Based on the findings of this study, recommendations and suggestions were offered to various stakeholders.