Differential Influence of Demographic Factors on Job Burnout among Police Officers in Ibadan, Oyo State

All over the world, the police is an important arm of government which is responsible for the enforcement of law and order. No nation could excel without a well-trained and disciplined force that could protect life and property of the citizens. One fundamental problem that could militate against efficient and excellent policing is job burnout. Job burnout among police personnel most especially in Nigeria has been under-reported in research despite the effort of some researchers. Investigating job burnout is therefore important among the police officers, not only in terms of their well-being but also in terms of improving their performance in the face of peace- threatening activities that are currently threatening the co-existence of the nation. This study, therefore, investigated demographic factors (age, marital status, educational level and year of experience) and job burnout amongst police officers in Oyo state, Nigeria. The study adopted a survey research design of ex-post facto type. Multi-stage random sampling technique was used to select two hundred and twenty (220) police officers from the six area commands in the state. The participants responded to Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI α 0.87) to measure their level of job burnout. Data were analysed using analysis of variance and Duncan post hoc test. Results from the analysis indicated significant differences between marital status, educational level, job tenure, age, and the concept of job burnout among the police officers. Implications and recommendations for stakeholders were discussed. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n3s1p52