Occupational Hazards in Corrections: The Impact of Violence and Suicide Exposures on Officers’ Emotional and Psychological Health

• Published date: 01 September 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/00938548231177710
• Author: Stacie St. Louis,Natasha A. Frost,Carlos E. Monteiro,Jessica Trapassi Migliaccio
• Date: 01 September 2023
• Subject Matter: Articles

CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND BEHAVIOR, 2023, Vol. 50, No. 9, September 2023, 1361 –1379.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/00938548231177710

Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions

© 2023 International Association for Correctional and Forensic Psychology

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OCCUPATIONAL HAZARDS IN CORRECTIONS

The Impact of Violence and Suicide Exposures on

Officers’ Emotional and Psychological Health

STACIE ST. LOUIS

Georgia Southern University

NATASHA A. FROST

Northeastern University

CARLOS E. MONTEIRO

Suffolk University

JESSICA TRAPASSI MIGLIACCIO

Northeastern University

Correction officers work in an occupational context where they are often exposed to violence; however, prior research assess-

ing the relationship between violence exposure and officers’ mental health has been limited. The current study sought to

better understand the impact of direct and indirect exposure to violence and suicide on psychological health outcomes.

Analyzing data from a random sample of 317 correction officers in Massachusetts, findings indicate that personally knowing

other officers who died by suicide is associated with greater anger, anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder

(PTSD). Increased strain-based work–family conflict and departmental discipline were also associated with elevated symp-

tomatology. However, other types of violence exposures, including being assaulted, witnessing staff assaults, and suicides

among the incarcerated population, did not predict any outcomes. Furthermore, family support did not serve as a stress buffer

for officers exposed to violence, but higher levels of family support were associated with decreased PTSD.

Keywords: correction officers; exposure to violence; mental health; psychological distress; officer suicide

For decades, the impacts of imprisonment on the incarcerated population have been doc-

umented and empirically assessed, but comparatively little attention has been paid to

the effects of the correctional environment on those who work in our carceral institutions.

Correction officers are in a uniquely stressful position relative to other correctional staff as

AUTHORS’ NOTE: The research reported in this article was supported by the National Institute of Justice

under Grant #MU-MU-0010. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not represent the

official views of the National Institute of Justice or the U.S. Department of Justice. Correspondence concerning

this article should be addressed to Stacie St. Louis, Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, Georgia

Southern University, 1360 Southern Drive, Carroll Building, Statesboro, GA 30458; e-mail: sstlouis@georgia-

southern.edu.

1177710CJBXXX10.1177/00938548231177710Criminal Justice and BehaviorSt. Louis et al. /

research-article2023

1362 CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND BEHAVIOR

they are tasked with responding to potentially violent situations that may arise during an

otherwise standard shift. Compared with other public safety personnel, correction officers

work in confined spaces with a population of people convicted of criminal offenses for

extended durations. Police officers, however, typically interact with potentially dangerous

people in passing and time-limited encounters. Yet, researchers have documented that, com-

pared with research on police officers, firefighters, and combat military personnel, “mental

health outcomes including depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress among corrections

officers remain relatively unexplored” (Regehr et al., 2019, p. 2). The current study seeks to

fill this critical void by assessing the effects of correctional work, specifically direct and

indirect exposure to violence and suicide, on officers’ anger, anxiety, depression, and post-

traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

A recent systematic review and meta-analysis examined over 200 empirical studies on

correction officer safety, health, and wellness and reported that officer mental health was

the least examined outcome among these works, assessed in only nine of the 200 studies

(Butler et al., 2019). Across the handful of studies that have examined officers’ mental

health, most studies have focused on PTSD and only a handful on anxiety and depression,

usually as part of a global mental health or psychological distress measure. Prevalence esti-

mates indicate that 15% to 34% of correction officers struggle with PTSD, 24% to 25%

with anxiety, and 24% to 60% with depression (Regehr et al., 2019). Even the lower ends

of these ranges are far higher than their prevalence in the general public. An estimated 3.6%

of U.S. adults had PTSD in the past year (lifetime prevalence of 6.8%), 2.7% had general-

ized anxiety disorder in the past year (lifetime prevalence of 5.7%), and 6.8% had major

depressive disorder (lifetime prevalence of 16.9%) (National Comorbidity Survey, 2005).

There is evidence that psychological distress may be particularly acute for officers in cor-

rectional environments. Compared with other correctional service workers (e.g., parole and

probation officers, institutional training staff), correction officers report greater anxiety,

depression, and PTSD (Ricciardelli et al., 2022). Correction officers also report signifi-

cantly greater stress, anxiety, social anxiety, depression, PTSD, and panic disorder than

institutional wellness staff (e.g., nurses, counselors), further highlighting the unique chal-

lenges of the officer position (Fusco et al., 2021).

Prior research on correction officers’ psychological distress has predominately identi-

fied the impact of social support and other work-related factors (e.g., shift, overtime, etc.)

on officers’ physical and behavioral health (e.g., Bourbonnais et al., 2007; Dollard &

Winefield, 1995, 1998; Goldberg et al., 1996; Harvey, 2014; Liu et al., 2013; Peeters et al.,

1995). Yet, along with the routine stress, correction officers work in potentially dangerous

environments and face an elevated risk of exposure to violence. Correction officers work

in one of the five occupations most exposed to violence (Harrell, 2011). Not only do offi-

cers witness and break up fights and respond to incidents of self-harm and suicide (Marzano

& Adler, 2007; Smith et al., 2019) but they are also at substantial risk of being assaulted

themselves (Goulette et al., 2022). Correction officers have the highest rate of intentional

injury by another person and one of the highest rates of injury and illness that lead to

absenteeism (Konda et al., 2012; U.S. Department of Labor, 2016). Officers’ reoccurring

violence exposures likely contribute to their elevated mental health symptomatology

(Ricciardelli et al., 2022).

One of the first studies to explore the relationship between violence exposure and mental

health outcomes focused on PTSD and documented that PTSD-positive officers had faced