Korean Probation Officers’ Perception of Positive Impact on Probationers’ Lives, Job Accomplishment, and Their Relationship with Job Satisfaction

There is a scarcity of research in English focusing on probation officers’ job satisfaction in South Korea. Maslow’s human needs theory (self-actualization) and Herzberg’s two-factor theory inspired the current study’s use of probation officers’ positive impact on probationers’ lives and job accomplishment as predictors of their job satisfaction. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analyses were performed on data collected from the Korean Institute of Criminology’s survey of Korean probation officers (N = 423). The regression results indicate a high level of job satisfaction among Korean probation officers who have a positive perception of their impact on probationers’ lives and their ability to achieve work goals. Therefore, probation administrators need to develop ways to enhance probation officers’ perception of their positive impact on probationers’ lives and job accomplishments to increase their job satisfaction.