When Our Work Hits Home: Trauma and Mental Disorders in Correctional Officers and Other Correctional Workers

Date
2021-02-15
Authors
Fusco, Nina
Ricciardelli, Rosemary
Jamshidi, Laleh
Carleton, R. Nicholas
Barnim, Nigel
Hilton, Zoe
Groll, Dianne
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Frontiers Media
Abstract

Background: International estimates suggest that up to one in three public safety personnel experience one or more mental disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Canadian data have been sparse until very recently, and correctional officers and forensic psychiatric staff have rarely been included. Working as a correctional officer is associated with negative health outcomes and increased work-related stress, with several variables affecting reported levels of stress. Healthcare staff also report higher rates of PTSD, especially those who are exposed to aggression in their workplace. In the present study, we compare current symptoms of diverse staff working in correctional occupations.

Description
Copyright © 2021 Fusco, Ricciardelli, Jamshidi, Carleton, Barnim, Hilton and Groll. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
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Citation
Fusco, N., Ricciardelli, R., Jamshidi, L., Carleton, R. N., Barnim, N., Hilton, Z., & Groll, D. (2021). When Our Work Hits Home: Trauma and Mental Disorders in Correctional and Forensic Service Staff. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 11, 1040. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.493391