The Forgotten Service: How Do Prison Staff Cope?
Rebecca Beacon, Forensic Psychologist in Training
Working in the criminal justice system can be rewarding however, it is also challenging at times. Referred to as the “forgotten service”, the role of a prison officer is unique in that their key aim is to manage and support a group of individuals who have not chosen to be there and often have complex needs including: challenging behaviour, aggression, self-harm and violence. Prison officers have been referred to as a forgotten service. They are an emergency service that do not always get the “hero” recognition as others would.
This video highlights some of the difficulties faced by prison officers:
Much like other emergency services, working in a prison environment can expose staff to physical and psychological difficulties (Johnson et al., 2009). Whilst the number of people imprisoned in the UK has risen by 77% in 30 years, government cuts have also seen the number of prison officers decrease by around one quarter during this period (Prison Reform Trust, 2018). A study completed by Kinman, Clements & Hart (2015) concluded that in comparison to other professionals in high stress jobs such as paramedics and police officers, prison officers were more likely to experience mental health difficulties or take their own life.
To explore this issue further, I completed a Rapid Evidence Assessment of the current literature to explore the perceptions of prison staff towards their work and the coping strategies that they employ. Whilst this is an area with limited research, the findings of the review showed that the coping strategies of prison staff could be grouped into the following themes:
- Façade of coping – this refers to portraying to others that you have not found something distressing although this may not be the case.
- Dark humour – using dark humour to cope with difficult emotions is a strategy that has been identified as helpful by a range of emergency services.
- Detachment – this is creating a separation between personal and work life. Evidence shows that using this strategy can mediate the extent to which work stressors influence wellbeing (Kinman, Clements & Hart, 2017).
- Spending time outdoors – participants in Wagenfield and colleagues (2018) research reported a calming effect of being outdoors. Despite this, there was no evidence that it reduced stress.
- Alcohol consumption – one study in the review found that the emotional demands of work contributed to burnout, which contributed to alcohol consumption (Sweeney, et al., 2017).
The review also highlighted that the prison culture can have an unhelpful impact on the wellbeing of prison officers. The prison officer culture is sometimes described as machoistic (Sweeney et al., 2017) and was also discussed by others as preventing staff members from expressing or discussing their emotions. It is reported that prison officers often feel that they must ignore their own emotions to present in a way that they think they should be perceived by society; as punitive and with flattened affect (Tewksbury & Higgins, 2006). However, this can be detrimental to mental health and wellbeing. Sweeney et al., (2017) highlighted that prison officers dealing with suicide-related behaviours spoke of a need to challenge the prison officer culture in order to support staff to reflect on and manage the emotions that are triggered when working in a difficult environment.
Detachment was a strategy that was identified in most of the studies (Kinman, Clements & Hart, 2017; Walker et al., 2018; Shepherd et al., 2019). Whilst the ability to segment one’s work and personal life was felt to be beneficial by many, and even reduced the possibility of using alcohol to cope (Shepherd et al., 2019) there were concerns that this was an avoidance strategy resulting from the prison officer culture.
What can we do?
Whilst the review identified some coping strategies that are used by prison officers, several studies identified the gaps in support received by prison staff. It is recommended that these problems are addressed through staff training, supervision and peer support. It is highlighted in research that prison officers who receive supervision experience less stress and enjoy their job more, however, the prison officer job role does not include a requirement to engage in supervision (Hartley et al., 2013).
Prison staff should be provided with training opportunities to develop their skills and share experiences of practicing self-care. This is most likely to be a task that will come with a need to “break down” some of the perceptions of prison staff culture. Admittedly the evidence suggests that prison staff are often reluctant to engage with formal support services, however, it may be worth considering ways in which this support could become normalised within the service. For example, the introduction of regular supervision or reflective practice, which is known to support healthcare professionals to cope with occupational stress and reduce the risk of burnout (Koivu, Saarninen & Hyrkas, 2012).
Do you work within the criminal justice sector? Or manage a team/service within criminal justice? Based on our research findings we have developed a staff training workshop to help develop resilient individuals and teams. Please get in touch if you would like to know more:
References
Armstrong, G. S. & Griffinm M. L. (2004). Does the job matter? Comparing correlates of stress among treatment and correctional staff in prisons. Journal of Criminal Justice. 32 (6), pp 577-592.
Hartley, D.J., Davila, M.A., Marquart, J.W. and Mullings, J.L. (2013). Fear is Disease: The Impact of Fear and Exposure to Infectious Disease on Correctional Officer Job Stress and Satisfaction. American Journal of Criminal Justice. 38 (2). 323-340.
Kinman, G., Clements, J. A., & Hart, J. (2016). Work-related wellbeing in UK prison officers: A benchmarking approach. International Journal of Workplace Health Management, 9(3), 290-307.
Kinman, G., Clements, J. A., & Hart, J. (2017) Job demands, resources and mental health in UK prison officers. Occupational Medicine, 67(6), 456-460.
Koivu, A., Saarinen, P.I., & Hyrkas, K. (2012). Who benefits from clinical supervision and how? The association between clinical supervision and the work-related well-being of female hospital nurses. Journal of clinical nursing, 21 (17-18), 2567-2578.
Sweeney, F., Clarbour, J., & Oliver, A. (2017). Prison officers’ experiences of working with adult male offenders who engage in suicide-related behaviour. The Journal of Forensic Psychiatry & Psychology, 29(3), 467-482.
Tewksbury, R. and Higgins, G.E. (2006). Prison staff and work stress: the role of organizational and emotional influences. American Journal of Criminal Justice. 30 (2), pp 247-266.
Wagenfield, A., Stevens, J., Toews, B., Jarzembowski, S., Ladjahasan, N., Stewart, J. & Raddatz, C. (2017). Addressing correctional staff stress through interaction with nature: a new role for occupational therapy. Occupational Therapy in Mental Health, 34(4), 285-304.
