Correctional Officers Stress
During week four, I expressed on a unique and personal story I had about an old friend of mine who work as a juvenile dentition officer. To summarize the story, while working as a juvenile correctional officer he encountered a 15-year-old detainee who had severe mental problems. On one occasion, this detainee decides to place his own fecal matter on himself; to prevent the detention officers from grabbing him and help him in any form from what he was about to do next. From there the young man attempted to hang himself. Afterward, officers rushed in the effort to prevent the suicide attempt. At first officers were hesitant in the efforts to assist the detainee, due to his smearing of the fecal matter on himself. But, due to the professionalism of these officers, they were able to overcome this hesitation and prevent the detainee from committing suicide. A few weeks after this transaction the individual turned in his resignation letter, stating the occupational strain were just too much to overcome.
This story got me thinking about the possible occupational strains correctional officers must face. Regrettably, I don’t have any firsthand knowledge on the matter, thus I did some research on possible correctional stressors. So, I would like to just talk about the possible occupational strains many of our correctional officers may face.
Correctional officers are faced with several occupational risk factors, since they house a population of inmates with the task of providing public safety and encouraging offender rehabilitation. Long term occupational stressors may lead an individual towards the feelings of being burnout. In turn, the employee will feel a sense of decreased organizational commitment and lower association towards productivity. For example, it is estimated that 37% of correctional officer’s experience some sort of work-related strain leading towards exhaustion; compared towards the 19% to 30% within the general working population. (Finney, Stergioupoulos, Hensel, Baonoto, & Dewa. 2013)
So, what are the causes of the emotional work-related strain? The three occupational tensioners are: organizational stressors, vocational stressors, and exterior system stressors. (Finn, Pg12-16. 2000) First, organizational sources relate towards overcrowded facilities, understaffing, and supervisory demands. (Finn, Pg12-13. 2000) From 1990 to 1995, the ratio between correctional officer towards inmate population rose from 4.2 to 4.6. (Finn, Pg12. 2000) Within the same time frame the nation’s correctional officer population only increased by a total of 14%. (Finn, Pg12. 2000) Forcing many facilities to enforce mandatory overtime for officer and unpredictable rotational shifts as well. (Pittaro, 2015) This lead many officers to the emotional clash of role uncertainty and confliction. (Finn, Pg13. 2000)
Second, the vocational source of stress relates towards threat and/or action of inmate violence, prisoner demands and manipulation, and problems with coworkers. (Finn, Pg13-14. 2000) As a result of the criminal subculture the concentration of prison gangs has increased. (Finn, Pg12. 2000) Therefore, it is only natural that the number of altercation between inmates and correctional officer increase per year within the State and Federal prison system. (Finn, Pg12. 2000) To illustrate, between 1990 and 1995, the number of prison attack on correctional officers increased by nearly one-third. (Finn, Pg12. 2000) Per one superintendent, the prison gang population is not afraid of assaulting staff members today; they don’t mine if they end up in segregation. (Finn, Pg12. 2000) Reason being, many of inmates are already serving an extended prison sentence, so they don’t fear any additional punishments. (Finn, Pg12. 2000)
Finally, exterior sources of stressors refer towards poor public image and poor pay. (Finn, Pg15-16. 2000) Per the U.S. Bureau of Labor, the range salary for a correctional officer in 2011 was in between $27,000 to $69,610, with an average annual salary of $43,550. Unfortunately, due to the political pressure many municipalities are facing, many of them are cutting their annual correctional budge spending per year. Meaning the average annual salary for a correctional officer will not be moving up any time soon. And according towards the U.S. Bureau of Labor, its estimated that by the year 2020 an additional 26,000 correctional officers will be needed.
Peter Finn wrote a book titled: Addressing Correctional Officer Stress: Programs and Strategies. Finn details the importance of stress reliving program within the Counties, States, or Federal correctional system. Within the book he elaborates on my key states and their programs. For example, Rhode Island family service society, California counseling team, Massachusetts stress unit, Oregon peer support program, and Texas post trauma staff support program. (Finn, Pg20. 2000) Finn also stresses the secondary aspect these stress reliving programs have on the overall system. For instance, they release some of the financial burden many of the municipalities carry over sick time leave abuse, high turnover rates, and union relations. (Finn, Pg6-7. 2000)
References
1. Finney C, Stergioupoulos E, Hensel J, Baonato S, & Dewa C. (January, 2013). Organizational Stressors Associated with Job Stress and Burnout in Correctional Officers: A Systematic Review. Copyright: BioMed Central LTB.
http://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2458-13-82
2. Finn, P. (December 2000). Addressing Correctional Officer Stress: Programs and Strategies. Copyright: U.S. Department of Justice: National Institution of Justice.
https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/183474.pdf
3. Pittar, M. (2015). Stress Management Strategies for Correctional Officers. Copyright: In Public Safety.
http://inpublicsafety.com/2015/01/stress-management-strategies-for-correctional-officers/