Inmates-to-Staff Assaults, PTSD and Burnout

Abstract

Prison employees are often confronted with critical incidents and chronic stressors that may lead to trauma or burnout symptoms. However, most of the research on clinical aspects of interpersonal violence in prisons (inmates-to-staff violence, specifically) focuses either on trauma or on burnout. The purpose of the present study is (a) to examine both burnout and posttraumatic stress among prison staff and (b) to examine the influences of inmates-to-staff violent relations on posttraumatic stress in terms of risk profile to develop PTSD. A random sample of French correctional employees has completed various self-reported questionnaires assessing burnout, posttraumatic stress, and stress as well as victimization and demographic characteristics. Correctional employees demonstrated high levels of PTSD symptoms, burnout, and stress. Violent interactions with inmates lead to experienced trauma of all types (PTSD, secondary, or vicarious trauma). Results have highlighted a prison worker's profile prone to PTSD: he or she expresses high levels of emotional exhaustion, intense levels of stress, high levels of depersonalization, and high levels of intrusion, avoidance, and hyperreactivity. This study contributes to an understanding of the literature by explaining the complex association between burnout and posttraumatic stress after interpersonal violence. These findings suggest a need to support prison workers and to address inmates-to-staff relational dynamics.

‘It's Knowing the Right Things to Say and Do’: Challenges and Opportunities for Trauma‐informed Practice in the Prison Context

“…Moreover, the harsh physical and emotional environment is not one that is solely experienced by prisoners alone, indeed Crawley (2006) observes that many prison officers will spend more time in prison than the people in their charge. Thus on a daily, and often long-term, basis it is argued that prison officers are working in a highly-charged environment: experiencing fear and anxiety; witnessing or being the victim of violence; and being exposed to extreme distress and potentially traumatic events such as suicide or self-harm (Boudoukha et al 2013). It is no surprise, then, that emotional detachment and depersonalisation have been reported to be coping mechanisms by which prison officers can continue to operate in such an environment (Arnold 2016;Crawley 2006;Scott 1997).…”

“…In the small number of studies that focus on prison officers’ roles more generally (not in the context of TIP) they have been found to be vulnerable to job stress, burnout, and post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Boudoukha et al . ; Rutter and Fielding ). This is significant, given that prison officers do not necessarily have the range of support and supervision that is often offered to health and social care staff as part of their professional culture.…”

Posttraumatic stress disorder symptom severity and control beliefs as the predictors of academic burnout amongst adolescents following the Wenchuan Earthquake

“…Nevertheless, many studies have focused on the association between PTSD symptom severity and job burnout in adults (Baird & Jenkins, 2003; Mealer et al, 2009; Mitani, Fujita, Nakata, & Shirakawa, 2006); generally finding a positive association between these (Boudoukha, Altintas, Rusinek, Fantini-Hauwel, & Hautekeete, 2013; Rojas-Flores et al, 2015). One potential explanation for this pattern is that PTSD itself is a kind of emotional distress that is characterized by increased hyper-arousal states; people with more serious PTSD symptoms may be experiencing higher emotional tension and vigilance (Sullivan & Elbogen, 2014), and thus this type of person may be more likely to feel emotional exhaustion.…”

“…One potential explanation for this pattern is that PTSD itself is a kind of emotional distress that is characterized by increased hyper-arousal states; people with more serious PTSD symptoms may be experiencing higher emotional tension and vigilance (Sullivan & Elbogen, 2014), and thus this type of person may be more likely to feel emotional exhaustion. Due to this, people with PTSD have reported more burnout compared to those without PTSD (Boudoukha et al, 2013; Rojas-Flores et al, 2015). …”

“…However, previous studies have focused on the relation between PTSD symptom severity and job burnout (Boudoukha et al, 2013; Rojas-Flores et al, 2015), and have overlooked the relation of PTSD to academic burnout in adolescents. Additionally, although the unique role of PTSD symptom severity and control beliefs in burnout has been assessed (Baird & Jenkins, 2003; Glass & McKnight, 1996), no studies to date have examined their combined role in burnout, particularly in academic burnout among adolescents.…”