The psychological and emotional effects of prison on prison staff

Assessing Relative Stressors and Mental Disorders among Canadian Provincial Correctional Workers

“…Most studies evidence a significant and positive association between perceptions of threat, perceived job stress [24,26,[33][34][35], and burnout [36]. The results underscore that regular perceptions of threat experienced by CWs are associated with personal safety concerns and job stress [23], but the specific mechanisms of how their perceptions increase job stress remain unexplored.…”

“…Correctional scholars have differentiated role conflict, role ambiguity, and role overload [ 21 ]. Role conflict can result from the duality inherent in expectations that employees will meet both the security needs of an institution and the rehabilitation needs of prisoners [ 23 ]. Role ambiguity refers to uncertainty regarding how to perform one’s role or what tasks the role encompasses [ 21 , 23 ].…”

“…Role conflict can result from the duality inherent in expectations that employees will meet both the security needs of an institution and the rehabilitation needs of prisoners [ 23 ]. Role ambiguity refers to uncertainty regarding how to perform one’s role or what tasks the role encompasses [ 21 , 23 ]. Role overload captures the tension and stress that can arise from too high a workload [ 21 ].…”

Understanding Needs, Breaking Down Barriers: Examining Mental Health Challenges and Well-Being of Correctional Staff in Ontario, Canada

“…Researchers studying fear of victimization among correctional staff find a positive relationship between said fear and perceived job stress ( Cullen et al, 1985 ; Armstrong and Griffin, 2004 ; Paoline et al, 2015 ) as well as burnout ( Savicki et al, 2003 ). For example, Arnold (2017) , looking at the effects of prison on prison staff, contends that, “concerns for personal safety are a very real and salient component of the job that is a statistically significant correlate of stress” (p. 290). In provincial prisons in Quebec, Canada, researchers characterized correctional work as embedded with job strain (defined as doing work that is psychologically demanding without much autonomy) and workplace harassment, leading staff to report experiences of psychological distress ( Bourbonnais et al, 2007 ).…”

“It’s Pure Chaos Every Day”: COVID-19 and the work of Canadian federal institutional parole officers

“…As such, IPOs may experience additional operational stressors arising from the nature of prison work. Researchers, mostly focused on correctional officers (COs), have shown that prison workers may experience operational stressors such as personal safety fears ( Arnold, 2017 ; Lambert and Hogan, 2018 ; Ricciardelli, 2019 ) and work–family conflict that are exacerbated by immersion in a prison ( Armstrong et al, 2015 ; Lambert and Hogan, 2018 ). Researchers investigating the mental health of Canadian public safety personnel found that correctional workers face high levels of exposure to potentially psychologically traumatic events, such as experiencing or witnessing physical violence ( Carleton et al, 2019 ), yet also noted the “important role of non-traumatic work-related [organizational and operational] stressors on the psychological health” of Canadian public safety personnel ( Carleton et al, 2020 : 19).…”