Degree Name

EdD (Doctor of Education)

Program

Educational Leadership

Date of Award

January 1998

Abstract

It is costly to train the counselors who serve in intensive Family Preservation Services (IFPS). The hiring agency must pay for traveling expenses in addition to any fee paid for training. When an IFPS worker chooses to terminate employment before the end of two years of employment, this puts a strain on an already tight budget. This problem could be alleviated by finding an efficient pre-hire screening instrument. The three personality traits described in Hardiness Theory literature: commitment, challenge, and control, are traits often used to describe the ideal IFPS worker. This study assessed IFPS workers to determine if the competent IFPS worker possessed these traits and to discover if they are satisfied with their work, and not suffering from symptoms of burnout. Twenty null hypotheses were formulated. Fifty-eight specialists from the Tennessee Home Ties programs completed: (a) a demographic survey; (b) the Personal Views Survey to measure Hardiness; (c) the Maslach Burnout Inventory; and (d) the Job In General scale to measure job satisfaction. Supervisors provided a copy of the Therapist Evaluation Form to measure employee competence. Eight specialists and three directors participated in additional telephone interviews. The Pearson product-moment coefficient of correlation statistic was used to determine statistically significant relationships between pairs of research variables. Nineteen of the 20 null hypotheses were rejected. The results of the study support the existence of a relationship between hardiness and competence, burnout, and job satisfaction. Pearson product-moment correlations were obtained to ascertain if a statistically significant relationship existed between any of the research variables and the demographic variables. Weak positive relationships were found between age and competence and between years of service and competence.

Document Type

Dissertation - unrestricted

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