Abstract
Background: International estimates suggest that up to one in three public safety personnel experience one or more mental disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Canadian data have been sparse until very recently, and correctional officers and forensic psychiatric staff have rarely been included. Working as a correctional officer is associated with negative health outcomes and increased work-related stress, with several variables affecting reported levels of stress. Healthcare staff also report higher rates of PTSD, especially those who are exposed to aggression in their workplace. In the present study, we compare current symptoms of diverse staff working in correctional occupations.Method: Data were collected from a Canadian national online survey of public safety personnel, including employees of correctional services at the federal level. Correctional officers and wellness services staff were compared for prevalence of mental disorders and suicidal ideation.Results: Correctional officers self-reported statistically significantly more exposure to potentially psychologically traumatic events than wellness services employees. Correctional officers also self-reported higher rates of symptoms of mental disorders, including PTSD, social anxiety, panic disorder, and depression. There were no statistically significant differences in reports of suicidal thoughts, plans, or attempts.Contribution to Society: Correctional and forensic staff contribute to society by working with justice-involved individuals in correctional institutions. Trauma-related disorders and other mental health problems threaten the well-being of correctional and forensic staff. Mental health likely impacts the ability of correctional and forensic staff to develop a therapeutic or working alliance with persons in custody. Staff well-being must be recognized and addressed to ensure that prisoners and staff receive optimal treatment in prison.Conclusion: Our results add to the limited knowledge about the well-being of staff, particularly wellness staff in prisons, who provide daily treatment and care for prisoners with serious mental disorders. Our work is a step toward identifying avenues for promoting staff well-being.
Highlights
The past decade has seen an increased focus on research examining exposure to potentially psychologically traumatic events [PPTEs; [1]] among military personnel and first responders such as police, fire fighters, and paramedics [e.g., [2,3,4]]
There were 1,308 respondents who were categorized as “correctional workers” and we limited our current analyses to the subset of 427 respondents who were employed either as institutional correctional officers (n = 359) or in institutional wellness services (n = 68) and at least responded to one of the mental disorder tools
216 were employed either as institutional correctional officers or institutional wellness services who did not respond to any mental disorder tools and 665 worked in roles outside of institutions
Summary
The past decade has seen an increased focus on research examining exposure to potentially psychologically traumatic events [PPTEs; [1]] among military personnel and first responders such as police, fire fighters, and paramedics [e.g., [2,3,4]]. Public safety personnel [PSP; [1, 5]], including communications officials, correctional workers, firefighters, paramedics, and police officers, are exposed to PPTEs by the very nature of their work [6]. The phrase operational stress injury [OSI; [1]] was coined by Canadian military personnel to clarify the potentially significant negative mental health impacts of events experienced or witnessed in the line of duty [5, 8]. We compare current symptoms of diverse staff working in correctional occupations
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