Documenting the mental health climate in correctional work and the realities of suicide

Abstract

Public safety personnel are at an elevated risk for suicidal thoughts and behaviors relative to the general public. Correctional workers in particular report some of the highest prevalence of suicidal thoughts and behaviors. To better understand this phenomenon, the current study draws on qualitative, open-ended survey response data (n = 94) that explores three distinct themes (occupational environment, lack of support, social silence) and how entrenched notions of mental health stigma and occupational culture inform how Canadian correctional workers understand their experiences with suicidal thoughts and behaviors. We conclude with a brief discussion of the research and policy implications, with an emphasis on mobilizing efforts to normalize mental health discussion in correctional workplaces, bolstering peer support resources, and collaboration, and assessing the limited organizational supports available to struggling staff.

“We must be mentally strong”: exploring barriers to mental health in correctional services

“…Respondents described how correctional work wears on them, including psychological, physical, and emotional effects as well as the various ways these effects spill over into their personal and family lives. As other research on correctional services has demonstrated ( Johnston et al, 2021 , 2022b ; Johnston and Ricciardelli, 2023 ); participants shared how mental health and attending to mental health is still stigmatized within the profession and the need to overcome this stigma to adequately address the mental health concerns that arise from operational and organizational stressors. Here, breaking down barriers to mental health treatment seeking is essential to encourage employees to come forward and seek intervention without fear of occupational or personal repercussions.…”

“…Despite the prevalence of mental health concerns among correctional workers that can be explained, to varying degrees, by operational and organizational factors within correctional services, mental health is still stigmatized in the profession, despite on-going suggestions for improvement and increased recognition of the mental health plights of correctional workers, in Canada especially (see Johnston et al, 2022b ; Johnston and Ricciardelli, 2023 ). Johnston et al (2021) have illustrated how stigma materializes within correctional services when mental health becomes framed as a personal problem to be resolved by the individual, rather than through a mutual partnership between the worker and organization.…”