Prison Environment Research Articles

PREVALENCE AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS OF HUMAN SCABIES IN PRISONS IN DOSSO, NIGER

Scabies is a contagious, pruritic, cosmopolitan dermatosis, widespread especially in human communities, due to parasitism by a mite Sarcoptes scabiei var hominis A lack of hygiene and overcrowding inside the houses are favourable factors. The aim of our study was to determine the prevalence and factors associated with the occurrence of human scabies in the prison environment in Dosso (Niger). Prospective descriptive cross-sectional study conducted in November 2022 in the civil prison of Dosso on authorization of the prison administration. The collected data were sociodemographic characteristics, personal history of pruritus and its characteristics, risk factors related to hygiene and conditions of incarceration, examination performed by a dermatologist to look for clinical signs of scabies. The diagnosis was retained in any inmate presenting one or more elements at the interrogation and at the physical examination. Out of a total of 352 inmates, 43 (38 males and 5 females) had scabies, a prevalence of 12%. The average age was 33 with extremes of 18 and 62 years. Of the scabies patients, 9% reported a history of intense, sleepless pruritus prior to incarceration. Most of the inmates, 86%, were in cells with more than 20 inmates. Among those with scabies, 42% showered twice a day, 81% changed clothes after showering and 74% used soap regularly for washing. The topography of the lesions was external genitalia (37%), buttocks (21%), inner thighs (16%), interdigital spaces (9%), elbows (9%) and wrists (7%). The inmates were informed about the disease, treatment information was explained to them, and they attended a session on hygiene promotion. All cases of scabies detected were prescribed a local treatment based on benzyl benzoate lotion 25%. Human scabies is common in the prison environment in Dosso. Too often, scabies goes undetected and is confused with other pruritic dermatoses, such as eczema or atopic dermatitis. Prison medical staff should be trained in scabies in order to prevent scabies outbreaks. The authorities in the region should make the improvement of hygiene and detention conditions in prisons their priority.

Individual and environmental contributors to psychological distress during imprisonment

People in prison bear a higher burden of psychiatric morbidity compared with the general population. This study examined the extent to which individual and environmental factors contribute to poor mental health during imprisonment. Participants comprised 1296 randomly selected adults in 15 Belgian prisons. Psychological distress was more common in women than men and peaked during the early stages of imprisonment. In addition to having a history of mental disorder, low levels of perceived autonomy, safety, and social support were independently associated with experiencing distress. These findings underscore the importance of considering the prison environment in policies to improve the mental health of incarcerated individuals.

Setting the Bar Behind Bars

As a continent with over 2 000 indigenous languages, Africa is complex regarding linguistic diversity. Whereas fluency in a major language is vital for communication in most bureaucratic, legislative and governmental environments, this skill is sometimes lacking in certain sensitive areas in Africa, such as prison facilities and courts. The term prisoner interpreting refers to the facilitation of communication by an interpreter between a prisoner or detainee and another party who do not share a common language; however, research regarding prisoner interpreting is currently marked by a huge hiatus. The aim of this study was to describe what prisoner interpreting in Nigeria and South Africa may entail; it was undertaken due to the lack of research in this domain. The setting is contextualised by providing background on community interpreting for prisoners and the substandard prison environment, and the necessary communicative competence required of interpreters is investigated. It was found that cultural considerations and dialectal differences are prominent factors to keep in mind when interpreting for prisoners. Power dynamics are examined, the first finding being that language status is problematic if a major language – in this case, English – is privileged above others. Moreover, it was determined that there are often large power gaps between parties. Regarding responsibility and role, it was established that parties in the interaction often have conflicting goals and the interpreter is tasked with deciding whether to comply with norms, or to challenge them. It can be deduced that prisoner interpreting in both Nigeria and in South Africa constitute unique challenges and require the community interpreter to meet a significantly high standard of expectations.

Intestinal parasitic infections and their potential risk factors among prison inmates in Valencia, Spain

BackgroundDespite the fact that prison inmates are a population at higher risk than other groups of suffering from intestinal parasite infections in relation to their living conditions, information about these diseases in prison environments is still scarce. Herein, we analyze the status of intestinal parasite infections in a Spanish prison.MethodsA cross-sectional study involving 528 inmates was conducted from April to June 2022 among inmates at Centro Penitenciario Picassent (Valencia, Spain). Stool specimens were examined using the direct wet mount technique, the formol-ether concentration technique, and the Ziehl-Neelsen staining method. We used STATA 16.1 for data analysis. We consider a p-value less than 0.05 significant at a 95% confidence level.ResultsOf the 528 inmates (471 men and 57 women; a mean age of 41.94 years) enrolled in the study, 83 (15.7%) were infected. Only six species of protozoa were detected. The gut potential microeukaryotic pathobiont Blastocystis sp. was the predominant parasite, accounting for 37 (44.6%) of the infections. Gut parasite amebas (6.6%) and pathobionts (5.3%) were more prevalent than flagellates (2.3%). The prevalence of infection with pathogenic species (8.9%) was similar to that of non-pathogenic species (8.7%). Infection among men (15.2%) was higher than in women (0.6%) (p < 0.0001). In multivariate analysis, the country of birth (AOR = 0.31, 95% CI = 0.18–0.52) and the time spent in prison (AOR = 1.83, 95% CI = 1.06–3.14) were statistically significant associated to intestinal parasite infections (p < 0.0001 and p = 0.028, respectively).ConclusionThis study found low levels of intestinal parasite infections in the CPP which could be indicative of the implementation of sanitary measures in prison environments in Spain. The less time spent in prison favor the risk of having infection while the Spanish nationality of inmates could reduce the risk of infection. The main recommendation would be to introduce routine parasitological tests upon foreigners entering prison.

Beliefs about mental health in incarcerated males: a qualitative interview study.

Beliefs about mental health are shaped by the sociocultural context. Prisons have unique environmental and social features, and the prevalence of mental health problems in incarcerated populations is exceptionally high. These features make prisons especially interesting settings for exploring health beliefs. The aim of this study was to explore the conceptualizations of mental health and coping preferences in a prison environment. Individual in-depth interviews were conducted with fifteen incarcerated males from three prisons in Northern Norway. The design draws on central elements from Grounded Theory. Mental health was perceived as distinct from mental illness by many of the participants. They coped with the prison environment by focusing on the things that gave them a sense of meaning and autonomy - this also formed their conceptualization of mental health. Furthermore, social interaction and activities were perceived as important to enhance and maintain mental well-being, however there were institutional barriers to using these coping strategies. The prison environment was integrated in the participants conceptualizations of mental health problems, and psychosocial stressors were emphasized in causal attributions. Biological and dispositional factors were less frequently mentioned. The participants preferred non-medical management for mental health problems and most displayed a reserved attitude towards psychotropic medications. The exception was attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, for which they held neurobiological causal beliefs, together with a corresponding preference for medication as treatment. The main finding was a firm integration of the prison context in in the participants' beliefs about mental health. We theorize that fusion of prison conditions and mental health beliefs were brought on by the processes of prisonization, observing mental distress in peers and attempts to protect self-esteem by externalizing the causes for mental health problems. Access to activities, social time, and "someone to talk to" were perceived to be crucial for improving and preserving mental health.

Caring for Male Prisoners Who Self-Harm: Perceptions, Attitudes and Experiences of Custodial Prison Staff and Male Prisoners in England

The aims of this research were to explore custodial prison staff and male prisoners’ perceptions toward self-harm, prison system responses and environmental impacts on self-harm. Four staff focus groups (thematic analysis) and 12 semi-structured interviews with male prisoners (interpretative phenomenological analysis) took place in three prisons in England. Prison staff attributed manipulative intention to self-harm; self-harming prisoners felt misunderstood. The prison environment and formal response processes were barriers for care access and provision. Recommendations include staff training in understanding and management of self-harm, supported by a care-focused culture, and fostering safety, security, empowerment and value for both prisoners and staff.

Drivers for enhancing job performance of prison officers in Slovenia: effects of job attitudes, organizational, and work-related factors.

Maintaining order and safety in a prison environment heavily depends on prison officers, who daily interact with prisoners and are constantly dealing with dangerous situations. Their task performance is vital for the organizational performance and the fulfillment of the prisons' mission. For managing prison officers' job performance efficiently, it is important to understand the associated factors; however, job performance in a prison environment remains completely unexplored in Slovenia. This article presents a study conducted among Slovenian prison officers (n = 201), which examined their task performance, its association with job attitudes, and the role of organizational and work-related factors. The study results showed that the prison officers' task performance is associated with their job satisfaction, but not with their job involvement. Moreover, their job satisfaction is associated with perceived organizational justice, job stress, and the dangerousness of the job. Based on these findings, we demonstrated that task performance depends on several direct and indirect factors that prison management should prioritize, the key ones being stress reduction, strengthening the feeling of organizational justice, and the ability to deal with the job-related dangers successfully. This article highlights organizational and work-related factors important for improving the prison officers' well-being at work.

Enriching Prison Environments via Peer-Led Activities.

Criminologists have long claimed that states of deprivation engendered by restrictive prison environments account for much of the problematic behavior that occurs there. It is logical to assume that any efforts to provide greater access to meaningful and appropriate activities may therefore serve to reduce such behavior by altering motivating operations for misconduct and occasioning reinforcement for other types of behaviors. Given the higher rates of trauma exposure and other mental health issues in prison populations, considering trauma-informed practices in intervention design is prudent. The current study evaluated the effects of environmental enrichment via prisoner-selected, peer-led activities conducted during association times. We used direct observation to assess engagement, existing facility data collection to detect changes in problematic behavior, and prisoner and staff surveys to assess perceptions of the overall acceptability and effects of the intervention. Prisoners engaged with and led a range of activities, with the majority reporting positive effects on behavior, social relationships, and general well-being; staff responses were generally positive but more tempered. Institutional behavior records did not appear sensitive enough to detect treatment effects. We discuss the results in terms of integrating trauma-informed care into prison interventions and the need to develop more robust measures of behavior change.

Understanding the organisational influences on the quality of and access to primary care in English prisons: a qualitative interview study.

Primary care for routine healthcare conditions is delivered to thousands of people in the English prison estate every day but the prison environment presents unique challenges to the provision of high-quality health care. Little research has focused on the organisational factors that affect quality of and access to prison health care. To understand key influences on the quality of primary care in prisons. This was a qualitative interview study across the North of England from 2019 to 2021. Interviews were undertaken with 43 participants: 21 prison leavers and 22 prison healthcare professionals. Reflexive thematic analysis was undertaken. The overarching organisational issue influencing quality and access was that of chronic understaffing coupled with a workforce in flux and dependence on locum staff. This applied across different prisons, roles, and grades of staff, and was vocally discussed by both patient and staff participants. Intricately related to understaffing (and fuelled by it) was the propensity for a reactive and sometimes crisis-led service to develop that was characterised by continual firefighting. A persistent problem exacerbated by the above issues was unreliable communication about healthcare matters within some prisons, creating frustration. Positive commentary focused on the characteristics and actions of individual healthcare professionals. This study highlights understaffing and its consequences as the most significant threat to the quality of and access to prison primary care. Strategies to address health care affecting prison populations urgently need to consider staffing. This issue should receive high-profile and mainstream attention to address health inequalities.

Health-related quality of life and associated factors among prisoners in Gondar city prison, Northwest Ethiopia: Using structural equation modeling.

Prisoners usually need more comprehensive health and social support than the general population. Due to the growing number of prisoners in Ethiopia and limited access to health service, quality of life is a key concern. Compromised health-related quality of life imposes short and long-term consequences on the prisoners, their families, and the healthcare system. In Ethiopia, there are limited studies that investigate health outcomes and health-related quality of life in this particular population. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the magnitude of health-related quality of life and associated factors among prisoners considering the multidimensional nature of health related quality of life. An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 1,246 prisoners who were enrolled using simple random sampling. The World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQoL-BREF-26) and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) tools were used to assess the HRQoL and depression among prisoners, respectively. The relationships between exogenous, mediating, and endogenous variables were identified using structural equation modeling. As the mediation of effects were present, then the direct, indirect, and total effects were determined. General fit indices of the final model were acceptable (x2/df = 1.76, p < 0.001, RMSEA = 0.06, TLI = 0.90, CFI = 0.91, and SRMR = 0.06). The mean (standard deviation) score of the overall health related quality of life was 53.25 (15.12). Having an underlying medical condition had negative total effect on health related quality of life while visits in prison had positive total effect. Having income-generating work in prison had only a direct positive effect. Whereas, older age, being married, longer duration of imprisonment, and depression all had only a negative direct effect on one or more domains of quality of life (p<0.05). Inmates in Gondar Prison have very poor and compromised levels of physical and psychological health despite having a modest degree of overall HRQoL. The result of this study is significant for people who work in and research the prison environment because it can assist in recognizing prisoners' health needs and devising treatment procedures that take into consideration physical, psychological, environmental, and social relationship aspects.

General health characteristics, psychological stress of inmates and living environment of a main prison in Sri Lanka

Background: Prison inmates, a deprived community are a part of general population. Understanding of their health characteristics, psychological stress and living environment is important to upgrade the existing situation.Objectives: To describe sociodemographic data, general health characteristics, psychological stress of prison inmates and living environment of a main prison in Sri Lanka.Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted among prison inmates of a main prison in Southern Sri Lanka. A self-administered questionnaire, K10 psychological distress scale and a checklist formulated by International Committee of Red Cross for evaluating the living environment and medical records were used to collect data.Results: There were 845 inmates with a median age of 33 years and 576/845(68.1%) were below 40 years. Majority of them had received school education 816/845(96.6%) and 401/845(47.4%) were skilled workers. There were inmates with a past history of being 560/845(66.2%) smokers, 525/845(62.1%) alcohol, 107/845(12.6%) heroin and 143/845(16.9%) cannabis users. Diabetes mellitus, hypertension, ischemic heart disease, psychiatric disorders, asthma and trauma were reported in 72/845(8.5%), 60/845(7.1%), 27/845(3.2%), 148/845(17.5%), 46/845(5.4%) and 33/845(3.9%) inmates respectively and psychological stress was experienced by 265/845(31.3%). Less number of inmates had communicable diseases. Score of standards for living environment was 50.Conclusions: Inmates were from young working group of the community. Past history of psychoactive substance use was high. The proportion of inmates with non-communicable diseases was higher than communicable diseases. Living environment of the prison was at an acceptable level.

Understanding experiences of suicidality within women’s prisons in England: a systematic review of the qualitative literature

PurposeSuicide and suicide-related incidents have increased within women’s prisons in the UK. This paper aims to synthesise the findings of qualitative literature, to gain a deeper understanding of the how women and staff in English prisons experience and explain the causes of their suicidal behaviours.Design/methodology/approachA systematic search of five electronic databases, namely, MEDLINE, APA Psychological Information Database (Psycinfo), Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (with full text – CINAHL), Psychology and Behavioural Sciences Collection and APA PsycArticles, was completed in January 2023. This study’s search strategy returned 1,714 articles, 7 of which were included for review. To identify relevant themes within the data, Thomas and Harden’s (2008) framework was applied. Quality appraisal was conducted by using Joanna Briggs’ Institute Checklist for Qualitative Research (Joanna Briggs Institute, 2021).FindingsFour themes were determined, which describe the causes of suicidal behaviours in women’s prisons in England; mental health and trauma, lack of support from services and staff, contact with family and self-harm as a coping strategy. Important sub-themes were also identified including the prison environment and poor relationships with staff.Practical implicationsFurther qualitative research is needed, however, the findings suggest greater support is required to aid positive mental health, including the provision of trauma informed coping strategies and improved staff training.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors knowledge, this is the first systematic review conducted on the factors contributing to women’s suicide in English prisons using qualitative literature.

The Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on the Hungarian Penitentiary System and Its Transformation Processes

The Covid-19 epidemic has put significant pressure on national penitentiary services all over the world to control the impacts that the pandemic has on closed prison environments. The prison services of the member states of the Council of Europe have responded with incredible speed and effectiveness with preventive and administrative measures to prevent the spread of the virus. The objective of the Council of Europe, EuroPris and other international organisations, was to support the member states’ responses to the situation in prisons by facilitating the exchange of information and best practices. The present study examines the statements and recommendations of the most important bodies and committees of the Council of Europe, in parallel with measures and solutions implemented in Hungary, in the light of international recommendations. The paper is based on a descriptive analysis of the Council of Europe expectations and recommendations and their applicability in the Hungarian prison system. Hungary has successfully processed and incorporated mostly all of the expectation of the international parties, in fact, he took further steps to make the pandemic’s outreached contacts of prisoners and relatives more colourful and active. Prevention and control measures adopted in timely manner were effective also in Hungary, as well in other Council of Europe member state. This study highlights the critical importance of fast and reasonable actions of international control bodies and the open and cooperative response of the national prison services.

“Use your common sense to navigate, and you're gonna get along okay”: Exploring the sensorial politics of attunement, survival, and resistance in Canadian federal prisons

What does prison feel like? This question has generated a theoretically and epistemologically innovative body of literature known as sensory criminology. However, due to the bureaucratic barriers that researchers experience in trying to access prison spaces and incarcerated people, much of this literature is written about/from the privileged experiences of prison ethnographers, undoubtedly missing many of the sensory nuances of prison life. To collapse the distance, and to prioritize the value of the sensory from the perspective of incarcerated people, we use qualitative data gleaned from 57 semi-structured interviews with former federally incarcerated people in Canada to examine the sensory dynamics of prison life as they are grounded in lived experiences. To concentrate our discussion, we focus analytic attention on the sensorial politics of survival and resistance, highlighting how incarcerated people must first become affectively and sensorially attuned to the prison environment to survive and resist the state-sanctioned violence of incarceration. After contextualizing our project – Feeling the Carceral – we analyze what incarcerated people describe as the shocking and tumultuous process of affective attunement to the prison environment. Next, we demonstrate how incarcerated people use their sensory interpretations of prison spaces to both protect themselves from, and resist, state-sanctioned violence, ultimately questioning the ethics and usefulness of carceral intervention. Specifically, we contend that attending to the ways incarcerated people sensorially decipher and interpret the prison environment not only demonstrates the intelligence and resourcefulness of criminalized people, but it also reveals more subtle, yet nonetheless totalizing, forms of prison violence that have been previously overlooked in the literature.

Pengaruh Spiritual Emotional Freedom Technique (Seft) Dalam Menurunkan Kesepian Pada Warga Binaan Lapas Narkotika Kelas IIA, Kabupaten Gowa

ABSTRACT The separation of each prisoner from his family, the loss of work and environmental conditions as well as new forms of activity make prisoners vulnerable to loneliness. The purpose of this study was to determine the provision of Spiritual Emotional Freedom Technique (SEFT) therapy in reducing loneliness in prisoners. This study uses a quantitative experimental method with a randomized control group pretest-posttest design. The subjects in this study were 14 prisoners who were divided into 2 groups, the treatment group (mean = 10.93) and the control group (mena = 4.07). The results showed p = 0.002 (p 0.05) for differences in the level of loneliness between groups, the significance value of p = 0.018 (p 0.05) for comparison of pretest (mean = 28.00) and posttest (mean = 20) values. .14) experimental group and p value = 0.18 (p0.05) for the comparison of pretest (mean = 27.87) and posttest (mean = 27.42) in the control group. Based on the results, it was found that there were differences in the effect of giving SEFT in reducing loneliness. Other variables that can affect loneliness are suggested to be controlled more tightly or can be studied in depth in further research, such as personality, psychological conditions and prison environment.

Learning with digital technologies in prison: a scoping review

The challenges of a knowledge-based society require the development of digital skills recognizing the potential of learning supported by technologies. Within this scope, and based on research published over the last decade, a scoping review of 66 articles was performed to create a framework derived from existing literature to analyze approaches to identify views about learning supported by digital technologies in prison environments. The results allowed both the presentation of an evolutionary perspective of the state of art regarding digital technologies in prison education and to identify four views: Technical, Humanistic, Regulatory, and Organizational, and Community. These views and the critical recognition of the approach that underpins them can contribute to understanding complementary roads to reach the political goals recommended for contemporary prison education, putting the focus on the promotion of conditions of lifelong learning in line with the challenges of the 21st century.

Nursing in a prison context: A focused mapping review and synthesis of international nursing literature.

To provide a snapshot of the extent to which nursing and the prison context features in non-specialist/generic nursing journals. Focused mapping review and synthesis. Relevant articles were examined for the extent to which they featured nursing and the prison context. A descriptive and contextual analysis of the data was carried out to provide a topography and synthesis of the key trends identified. Articles meeting criteria for nursing and the prison context in relevant non-specialized, generic nursing journals (n = 7) from January 2018 to December 2022. Four thousand, nine hundred and twelve (n = 4912) articles were published during the review period of which (n = 14) met inclusion criteria. The key trends identified are presented under three headings: taking an advocacy approach for better health and well-being, examining self-determination and autonomy in prison populations and nursing in the prison context. Nursing and the prison context features in non-specialized and generic nursing journals but sparsely and infrequently. There is a need for greater visibility of nursing and the prison context in nursing journals to help reduce stigma and marginalization of those working and those detained in prison. Nurses working in prison environments often manage extremely complex care needs. It is necessary to feature all nursing care environments in nursing journals so as to increase visibility and to act as a source of education for all. IMPACT (WHAT PROBLEM DID THE STUDY ADDRESS? MAIN FINDINGS? WHERE/WHOM WILL THE RESEARCH HAVE IMPACT ON): The findings of this review will have impact on all nurses engaged in practice and research as it highlights the extent to which nursing in a prison context is featured in non-specialized nursing journals and also speaks to the challenges faced by those working and detained in prison. No patient or public contribution. This was a review of existing literature.

Exploration of the barriers and enablers of benzodiazepines deprescribing in prisons: A qualitative study among health and social care professionals.

The prison environment is a place of high consumption of benzodiazepines (BZDs) due to the anxiety and sleep disturbances, mental disorders, detoxification and trafficking. The study aims to explore experiences of health and social care professionals on the use of BZDs in prisons, as well as the barriers and enablers to their deprescribing. Semistructured individual interviews with professionals working in a prison setting were performed between March and April 2022, based on an interview guide. They were recorded and transcribed using the NVivo software. A qualitative analysis using an inductive approach based on a thematic analysis was performed. Sixteen health professionals were interviewed, including psychiatrists, general practitioners, nurses, pharmacists, psychologists, musicologists and pharmacy technicians. The identified barriers to deprescribing BZDs were problems of coordination between prescribers, lack of time and alternatives. Concerning the enablers, therapeutic education groups, staff's awareness of the irrelevance of some medication and multi-professional advice were identified. This study highlights the similarities in deprescribing difficulties between prison and other settings. Some of the levers identified in our study have shown their effectiveness in different settings. Deprescribing is done most of the time in good conditions but requires an additional delay compared to the outside environment.

Preventive measures against risk factors for cardiovascular diseases in the prison environment: an integrative review

Objective: to analyze preventive measures against risk factors for cardiovascular diseases in the prison environment. Methods: integrative review carried out in the databases MEDLINE/PubMed, Web of Science, SCOPUS, CINAHL, LILACS, EMBASE, and SciELO. The descriptors and keywords used, combined with the Boolean operators OR and AND were: prisons, prisoners, health promotion, health education, cardiovascular diseases, heart diseases and heart. We included articles in English, Portuguese, or Spanish, that addressed preventive measures against the risk of cardiovascular diseases in the prison environment, with no specific time frame. Results: the final sample included seven articles. Preventive measures found were related with exercising, nutritional improvement, weight control, smoking cessation, stress control, and laboratory follow up, focusing specially in physical activities and nutritional improvement. Conclusion: identifying preventive measures can aid in the development of health promotion actions for the population deprived of freedom. Nonetheless, more studies on the topic are required. Contributions to practice: understanding the preventive measures against risk factors for cardiovascular diseases used in the prison environment can give support to the developing of health promotion interventions.

The moderating role of prison personnel years of service in the relationship between trauma and PTSD

ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to investigate the moderating role of prison personnel's years of service working within a prison environment, on the relationship between the three trauma factors (self-harm/death, violent, environmental) measured by the Prison Personnel Trauma Measure (PPTM) and PTSD symptomology. MethodA non-probability convenience sample of 1995 Prison Personnel in the UK completed the Prison Personnel Trauma Measure (PPTM), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist Version 5 (PCL-5). ResultsDifferential associations were identified between years of service, trauma and PTSD. Results showed specifically that years of service significantly moderated the relationship between violent trauma exposure and PTSD. Furthermore, it was identified this moderation occurred specifically in male personnel with higher years of service but not in female personnel. Years of service was not found to moderate the relationship between self-harm/death or environmental trauma exposure and PTSD in male or female personnel. ConclusionThe findings clarify linkages among years of service, trauma and PTSD, and elucidates which types of trauma exposure may be moderated by years of service within a prison environment. Implications for PTSD symptomology development are discussed. It is also suggested that future studies may advance the understanding of the mechanisms of the relationship between trauma exposure in prison and potential moderating factors on the development of PTSD, Anxiety, and Depression.