Predicting Burnout, Well-Being, and Posttraumatic Growth in Correctional Officers

• Published date: 01 May 2024
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/00938548241233932
• Author: Olivia Miller,Jane Shakespeare-Finch,Dagmar Bruenig
• Date: 01 May 2024

CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND BEHAVIOR, 2024, Vol. 51, No. 5, May 2024, 724 –742.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/00938548241233932

Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions

© 2024 International Association for Correctional and Forensic Psychology

724

PREDICTING BURNOUT, WELL-BEING, AND

POSTTRAUMATIC GROWTH IN

CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS

OLIVIA MILLER

JANE SHAKESPEARE-FINCH

DAGMAR BRUENIG

Queensland University of Technology

Correctional officers work in a stressful environment and are exposed to elevated levels of critical incidents. Such exposure

can lead to negative psychological outcomes like burnout. However, positive psychological experiences including well-being

and posttraumatic growth are also possible under such adverse conditions. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore

predictors of burnout, well-being, and posttraumatic growth in a sample of correctional officers (N= 142). The results of

multiple regression analyses indicated that age, workplace adversity, and resilience were significant predictors of correctional

officer burnout. A sense of workplace belongingness and the use of adaptive coping strategies were significant positive pre-

dictors of well-being and posttraumatic growth. Trait resilience and the receipt of social support were additional significant

positive predictors of well-being. These results highlight the importance of individual, interpersonal, and organizational fac-

tors in promoting positive health outcomes, preventing negative health outcomes, and providing avenues for staff support.

Keywords: burnout; correctional officers; mental health; protective factors; quantitative methods; social support

Correctional officers work within the confines of prison with people who tend to be

highly distressed (Crawley, 2004). Not only do they maintain security, but they also act

as proxy counselors, health care workers, and first responders to appropriately care for the

people under their supervision (Crawley, 2004). Thus, their work can be highly stressful and

expose them to potentially traumatic critical incidents such as prison resident self-harms

(Carleton et al., 2019). Given this context, it is unsurprising that correctional officers show

high rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; Carleton et al., 2019), burnout (Lambert

et al., 2015), stress (Butler et al., 2019), depression, and anxiety (Regehr et al., 2021).

Nonetheless, the broader literature suggests that mental illness is not the most common

psychological outcome, and that well-being and growth are possible under adverse condi-

tions (e.g., Bonanno et al., 2012). For example, 2021 census data found that under 10% of

Australian correctional officers self-reported a mental illness suggesting that approximately

AUTHORS’ NOTE: We have no conflicts of interest to disclose.Correspondence concerning this article

should be addressed to Olivia Miller, School of Psychology and Counselling, Faculty of Health, Queensland

University of Technology, 5th level, B Wing, O Block, Kelvin Grove, Queensland 4059, Australia; e-mail: olivia.

miller@hdr.qut.edu.au.

1233932CJBXXX10.1177/00938548241233932Criminal Justice and BehaviorMiller et al. / Correctional Staff Burnout, Well-Being & PTG

research-article2024

Miller et al. / CORRECTIONAL STAFF BURNOUT, WELL-BEING & PTG 725

90% were able to remain mentally well (Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS], 2021).

Indeed, the salutogenic model of health (Antonovsky, 1996) considers health to exist on a

continuum ranging from dis-ease to health-ease and argues that an understanding of both

ends of the continuum is needed to adequately promote health beyond disorder absence.

The salutogenic model of health postulates that life is innately stressful leading to tension

which can be negative, neutral, or positive. Whether tension leads to negative, neutral, or

positive health outcomes depends on the person’s ability to manage tension and draw on

appropriate resistance resources. Some resistance resources can support health (protective

factors) while others can hinder health (risk factors), and it is a person’s ability to appropri-

ately draw on these resources that determines their health status.

Most prior correctional officer research has been pathogenic with a focus on the dis-ease

end of the continuum (e.g., Butler et al., 2019; Regehr et al., 2021). This means that the

health-ease end of the continuum remains underresearched for correctional officers, includ-

ing resistance resources that predict their health. The salutogenic model of health

(Antonovsky, 1996) serves as the theoretical foundation of this study which aimed to

explore the health of Australian correctional officers across the health continuum to answer

the following research question:

Research Question 1 (RQ1): What resistance resources predict correctional officer burnout,

well-being, and posttraumatic growth?

THE AUSTRALIAN CONTEXT

Approximately 19,861 Australians work as correctional officers (ABS, 2021) across 115

prisons which are predominantly high security and government operated (Australian

Government Productivity Commission [AGPC], 2022). They care for over 40,000 people

(ABS, 2022, 2023), many of whom identify as male and/or Aboriginal or Torres Strait

Islander and live with a mental illness (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare [AIHW],

2022; AGCP, 2022). Thus, Australian correctional officers not only maintain prison security

but also assist with prison resident rehabilitation, education, and health care.

Little is known about the health of Australian correctional officers in comparison with

international officers. The available Australian research has been predominantly patho-

genic, suggesting Australian officers frequently experience potentially traumatic critical

incidents and mental illnesses (e.g., Eriksson, 2021; Trounson et al., 2016, 2022). Very

little Australian research has explored correctional officer health as more than disorder

absence. Trounson et al. (2022) explored the social and emotional well-being of Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander officers and found that resistance resources like connection to

culture, morale, social relationships, and somatic health impacted well-being. However,

the results are unlikely to transfer to non-Indigenous officers. More recently, Miller et al.

(2023) qualitatively explored the mental health of Australian officers and found that they

could experience personal growth and a sense of purpose in addition to mental illness

symptoms.

BURNOUT

Burnout develops after prolonged exposure to stress and is characterized by high levels

of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization and low levels of perceived personal