How “Conditions of Confinement” Impact “Conditions of Employment”: The Work-Related Well-Being of Provincial Correctional Officers in Atlantic Canada

Abstract

Internationally, researchers studying correctional officer (CO) work have examined CO self-presentation, staff-prisoner relationships, and emotional labor. We build on this research by drawing on occupational literature to examine officer mental health outcomes that result from correctional work. We examine the impact of working in prison on COs' well-being, paying particular attention to aspects of the work content (operational stressors) and context (organizational stressors). In conducting semi-structured interviews with COs in Atlantic Canada, we found that COs identified a number of operational stressors as impacting their mental health, specifically generalized violence among prisoners, direct and vicarious violence, and ongoing harassment. COs identified organizational stressors, including a work culture that discourages visible emotional responses to operational stressors, a lack of support from management, and inadequate procedures for dealing with workplace violence and harassment, as factors that exacerbate and contribute to negative mental health outcomes.