The Stress Of Corrections: The Stress Of Corrections

Stress of Corrections Corrections officers are often faced with unimaginable situations in their role in providing the structure for prisoners to go back into society. In corrections facilities, there is a high turnover rate due to the physical and mental strain these officers endure. Issues such as riots, fights, gangs, dealing with inmates with mental health issues, and the potentially negative personality issues that prisoners bring with them to prison. This stress can lead to mental health issues, physical health disorders, and family problems. We need to provide them help and find ways to make the job more manageable to ensure the corrections officers are able to not only do their job, but also lead a productive life outside of work.

Corrections work is made for special people. “Corrections officers suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder at more than double the rate of military veterans in the US” (Lisitsina, 2015). This is an astonishing thought knowing what war is like across the world and the impact it has on our soldiers. This knowledge makes it difficult on new corrections officers heading into their new positions in jails and prisons. PTSD is a major health problem that can lead to suicide. A study, “found that corrections officers have a suicide rate that is twice as high as the rate of police officers and the general population” (Pitarro, 2017). When officers are put in high stress positions they also become, “less effective at their jobs and they are more likely to display withdrawal symptoms of increased absenteeism, tardiness, and an anticipation of turnover” (Tewksbury and Higgins, 2006). Needless to say, the job can lead to a series of mental health issues and consequences for the officers, which puts them at

While the positions within the correctional officers’ scope of responsibilities can range from working on a computer to interacting with inmates, physical strength is necessary. An officer has to be able to deal with potential physical interactions with inmates, whether that is restraining them, fighting them off until help comes, or subduing an inmate. Being a corrections officer is not for the faint of heart, maintaining physical health is a key reason why corrections officers have a high turnover. As officers age, it becomes harder to deal with the physical issues that they face on the job. Many inmates can outweigh a corrections officer, making it hard for one to fight with one inmate not to mention more than one. This is one of the reasons for eliminating rec equipment in the facilities in jails and prisons. The inmates were lifting weights all day and getting bigger and bigger creating a hazard for the corrections officers. Officers must have the physical strength to maintain their safety as well as those around them. Officers have to go through many tests prior to being hired. You must be able to “run 1.5 miles in under 17 minutes and 17 seconds, do 15 pushups and 11 sit-ups.” (Public Safety Testing, 2017) These are just the basic physical skills the officers need and as I have described prior, the mental skills and ability to cope with the job are