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

Rosemary Ricciardelli,Dianne L Groll,James Gacek,R N Carleton

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01036

Rosemary Ricciardelli, Dianne L Groll + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01036

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Abstract

Mental health challenges appear to be extremely prolific and challenging for correctional service employees, affecting persons working in community, institutional, and administrative correctional services. Focusing specifically on correctional workers employed by the Ontario Ministry of the Solicitor General, we shed light on their interpretations of the complexities of their occupational work and of how their work affects staff. Using a qualitative thematic approach to data analyses, we show that participants (n = 67) encounter barriers to treatment seeking, which they describe as tremendous, starting with benefits, wages, and shift work. We let the voices of staff elucidate what is needed to create a healthier correctional workforce. Recommendations include more training opportunities and programs; quarterly, semiannual, or annual appointments with a mental health professional who can assess changes in the mental health status of employees; offsite assessments to ensure confidentiality; and team building opportunities to reduce interpersonal conflict at work and increase moral by improving the work environment.

Highlights

Employees in correctional services have versatile occupational roles that range from direct contact with prisoners or probationers to indirect decision-making and administrative processes that oversee prisoner, probationer, and staff experiences
The current article data emerged as part of the mental health and well-being study, designed to begin to assess the prevalence of mental health challenges and mental disorders among correctional staff working in all areas of correctional employment
Mental health needs and the associated barriers to support for correctional service employees remain an ongoing challenge, despite significant gains in recognizing and respecting the mental health challenges and barriers to treatment-seeking raised by participants

Summary

Introduction

Employees in correctional services have versatile occupational roles that range from direct contact with prisoners or probationers to indirect decision-making and administrative processes that oversee prisoner, probationer, and staff experiences. Well-Being of Correctional Staff precarious employment relations (Triplett et al, 1996; Schaufeli and Peeters, 2000). Taken together, such similar experiences can and do affect the mental health and well-being of correctional staff. The researchers found evidence that 54.6% of correctional workers, compared to the study average of 44.5% of all PSP, screened positive for one or more mental disorders. Self-reported positive screens were much higher than the diagnosed general population epidemiological rate of 10.1% for any mental disorder (Statistics Canada, 2012). Many correctional staff self-reported symptoms yielding positive screens for post-traumatic stress disorder (29%), major depressive disorder (31%), and generalized anxiety disorder (24%) (Carleton et al, 2018a,b)

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