Degree Name

EdD (Doctor of Education)

Program

Educational Leadership

Date of Award

December 1994

Abstract

Addiction leads to homelessness, AIDS, other health problems, crimes, financial burdens, family conflict and many social and psychological problems. Relapse rates remain very high in addiction programs and employees are frustrated by the poor response of clients to treatment and to the bureaucratic style of management often found in hospitals and clinics. Relapse rates are due to stress factors, respondent conditioning processes, and lack of focus on techniques of relapse prevention. One approach to overcoming the morale problem could be a more participatory style of management to improve the work climate. This study was completed in response to the lack of previous research in this area. Employees in 11 Veterans Affairs Domiciliary Addiction Programs completed the Work Environment Scale developed by Moos to measure stress in the work environment. The leadership behavior of the coordinators was measured with Yukl's Managerial Practices Survey to determine levels of skills of participative management. Rates of program completion and program demographic data were also obtained. Seventy-three (72.3%) sets of responses were used in the analysis of data from eleven programs. The rate of program completion ranged from 62.5% to 85%. The MPS mean for each program ranged from 117.25 to 246.00. A one-way analysis of variance indicated that programs with higher scores on the MPS had higher program completion rates (F = 32.86, p =.003). The five programs with mean scores above 205 on the MPS and the six programs with mean scores below 184 were compared with their scores on the WES subscales. The following dimensions were statistically significant: involvement, comfort, autonomy, and supervisor support. There was no statistically significant difference in the subscales of innovation, clarity, task orientation and peer cohesion. The programs with lower scores on the MPS had higher scores on the subscales of work pressure and control. The analysis produced an F = 11.54 (p =.01) for work pressure and F = 25.10 (p =.007) for control. Results of this study supported the importance of using a participative management style to improve work climate and increase program effectiveness. Recommendations for further studies focused on organizational development and job redesign in health care to tap the unrealized potential of human resources. Future studies could be focused on successful reintegration of clients within the community since recovery is a social process.

Document Type

Dissertation - unrestricted

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