Working in Prisons and Its Effects on Officer Wellbeing

The impact that prison work can have on correction officer wellbeing has become a focus of research in corrections, with studies examining deleterious effects of nearly every aspect of the occupation. Research consistently finds that correction officers navigate a variety of organizational and operational stressors within a complex occupational culture. This article identifies aspects of working in prisons that can lead to negative impacts and reviews empirical findings related of officer wellbeing, incorporating direct accounts from correction officers., The review highlights the most prominent stressors that increase risk for adverse behavioral, emotional, physical and mental health outcomes among officers, and focuses on the potentially unique contribution that violence and trauma exposures have on officer mental health and suicide. We argue that addressing harmful aspects of the correctional occupational culture and developing interventions will be beneficial for correction officers, the organization, and the incarcerated population. Although systemic change is a longer-term effort that will require shifting the correctional occupational culture, addressing methodological limitations of the research, developing and implementing evidence-based wellbeing programs, and empowering families and friends are short-term approaches offered to address the impacts of working in prisons on officer wellbeing.