Prison Changed Me—and I Just Work There: Personality Changes Among Prison Officers

• DOI: 10.1177/0032885521991091
• Published date: 01 March 2021
• Date: 01 March 2021
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/0032885521991091

The Prison Journal

2021, Vol. 101(2) 166 –186

© 2021 SAGE Publications

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DOI: 10.1177/0032885521991091

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Article

Prison Changed

Me—and I Just Work

There: Personality

Changes Among

Prison Officers

Tomer Einat1 and Nina Suliman2

Abstract

This study examined the impact of prison officers’ time on the job on changes

in two personality factors, conscientiousness and agreeableness. The results

confirmed the hypotheses that after four years of work, there was a clear

interaction effect and significant difference between prison officers and the

control group regarding the personality factors examined. A downward

trend in conscientiousness and agreeableness was indicated, contrary to the

trend that characterized the employees in the control organizations. These

findings suggest a unique personality change among prison officers as a result

of their work, which could have a negative effect.

Keywords

prison officers, personality, change, conscientiousness, agreeableness

Introduction

Prison has been viewed as one of the most unique and extreme work envi-

ronments in terms of the nature of the job and the quality of the involved

population (Keinan & Malach-Pines, 2007; Lambert et al., 2009). This

1Bar Ilan University, Israel

2Israel Prison Service, Ramat Gan, Israel

Corresponding Author:

Tomer Einat, Department of Criminology, Bar-Ilan University, Bldg. 213, Room 437,

Ramat-Gan 52900, Israel.

Email: Tomer.Einat@biu.ac.il

991091TPJXXX10.1177/0032885521991091The Prison JournalEinat and Suliman

research-article2021

Einat and Suliman 167

all-encompassing, closed environment is characterized by numerous

difficulties and extraordinary pressures and by the physical, emotional,

and mental detachment of most of the inmates from the outside world

(Armstrong & Griffin, 2004; Walsh & Freshwater, 2009

Until three decades ago, most of the academic literature on imprisonment

focused on prisoners, with very little attention paid to prison staff (Bierie,

2012; Lambert et al., 2018a). Recent recognition of the relationship between

different stress factors associated with the work of prison officers, their physi-

cal and mental health, and their professional functioning has led to the devel-

opment of a relatively new and extensive field of research (Kinman et al.,

2017; McCraty et al., 2009). Studies have focused mainly on the characteris-

tics of the prison work environment that create stress and burnout (Hogan

et al., 2006) and how this affects the stress levels of officers (Dowden &

Tellier, 2004; Lambert et al., 2002; Lovell & Brown, 2017). Some have also

examined the impact of this stress on attitudes toward the job, absences, resig-

nations, burnout, and health (Schaufeli & Peeters, 2000). However, to date,

there has been no in-depth investigation of the effect of these characteristics at

a deeper level; that is, on the relationship between working in a prison and

personality change. The present research, which is a part of a larger study

examining the effects of employment as a correctional officer on personality

change, aims at addressing this gap by analyzing the possible relationship

between working as a prison officer and changes in personality, with an

emphasis on the personality factors of conscientiousness and agreeableness.1

Personality and Personality Change

A considerable part of the research on personality and personality change in

recent years has been based on the Big Five personality traits known as the

five-factor model (Lucas & Donnellan, 2011; Ludtke et al., 2011).According

to this model, personality is composed of five main traits: extroversion,

agreeableness, neuroticism, conscientiousness, and openness to experiences

(Fisher & Robie, 2019; McCrae & Costa, 2003).2

The current study focuses on two of these personality factors: conscien-

tiousness and agreeableness. Conscientiousness (Havoosha, 2006) refers to

the individual’s style of performance and approach to tasks, work, and respon-

sibilities in general. Its subscales include self-efficacy, orderliness, dutiful-

ness, achievement striving, self-discipline, and cautiousness. Agreeableness

(Havoosha, 2006) refers to interpersonal orientation and expresses the balance

between a focus on oneself and a focus on others. Its subscales include trust,

morality/values, altruism, cooperation, modesty, and empathy. Research on

personality change over a lifetime has indicated a minor increase in the factors