The Psychological Experience of Security Officers Who Work with Executions

Abstract

Open-ended interviews were conducted with members of the “Execution Team” in Louisiana in order to understand the roles, experiences, and effects of carrying out the death penalty. Fifty of a potential 52 correctional officers who work with executions were interviewed and asked to complete mental health inventories. While emphasizing the importance of security and their professional responsibilities in carrying out the death penalty, the officers stress their respect and decency toward the inmates and all others involved with the process. Although expectably reporting high incidences of exposure to trauma and death, they generally are not clinically depressed. They rely upon religious beliefs, group identity, administrative support, and their capacity to dissociate and rely on diffusion of responsibility to suppress painful emotions. Nevertheless, the officers experience conflicted feelings and frequently report having a hard time carrying out society's “ultimate punishment.”