Critical incident exposure among custody and noncustody correctional workers: Prevalence and impact of violent exposure to work‐related trauma

Abstract

Background Correctional workers are at high risk for exposure to trauma, both as direct violence and as threats to their safety and well‐being. The distress associated with these critical incidents (CIs) affects mental and physical health. Current tools are limited for detecting CIs in this workforce and are therefore insufficient for addressing correctional worker trauma. Methods Community prison employees (N = 105) self‐reported CIs using the adapted Correctional Worker Critical Incident Survey (CWCIS). We examined: (1) prevalence of CIs and occurrences, (2) differences in exposures to CIs by custody and noncustody staff, and (3) differences in job satisfaction, posttraumatic stress (PTSD), lower back disease, and health behaviors, such as missed work and sleep. Results CIs occurred among most staff (59%) and more often for custody staff as compared to noncustody staff. CIs most often experienced were coworker injury, exposure to disease, and badly beaten adults (frequency 10−50). For the 1−9 frequency category, the most described events were: seeing someone dying, life threatened, and coworker injury. PTSD was identified in 44% of staff, and those who experienced CIs reported lower job satisfaction, greater feelings of PTSD, and more work absences than those not experiencing CIs (p < 0.05). Conclusions CIs and PTSD are prevalent among custody and noncustody correctional workers; and job dissatisfaction, PTSD, and work absence are significantly worse for those who experienced CIs. The CWCIS detected CIs; future study is needed to inform trauma prevention, reduction, and rehabilitation interventions specific to correctional work.

Integrated Safety and Health Promotion among Correctional Workers and People Incarcerated: A Scoping Review

“…The most-effective controls are those designed as either primarily preventive or to eliminate causal conditions within workplaces that place individuals at risk for illness and injury; the next most-effective control is replacing unhealthy conditions with those that promote health through policies and upper-level practices [ 26 ]. The least-effective controls are those designed as reactionary (secondary and tertiary interventions) and for the individual level [ 13 , 26 ]. However, when integrated across levels and types of controls, each type of intervention is needed due to the high prevalence of physical and mental illnesses among both workers and people who are incarcerated [ 13 ].…”

“…The least-effective controls are those designed as reactionary (secondary and tertiary interventions) and for the individual level [ 13 , 26 ]. However, when integrated across levels and types of controls, each type of intervention is needed due to the high prevalence of physical and mental illnesses among both workers and people who are incarcerated [ 13 ].…”

“…Correctional workers report high rates of mental health disorders (~30%) and work-related stress (22-35%) [2,11]. Correctional officers also experience high rates of violent acts against them in the workplace [12,13] and poor workplace conditions, such as inadequate pay, mandatory overtime, and understaffing [14].…”