"We must be mentally strong": Exploring barriers to mental health in correctional services
Ryan Coulling
Matthew S. Johnston- 1Providence University College and Theological Seminary, Canada
- 2Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada
The inherent nature of work in correctional services can have negative effects on correctional worker mental health and well-being. The current study, a replication, analyzes survey data collected from provincial and territorial correctional workers staffed in six regions across Canada (n = 192). Specifically, participants were asked at the end of an extensive mental health and well-being survey an open-ended question requesting any additional feedback or information.Four predominant themes were identified in the data: (1) stigma pertaining to a need to recognize mental health concerns within correctional services; (2) the idea that correctional services wear on the mind and body; (3) a need for better relationships with and support from correctional supervisors, upper management, and ministerial leadership; and (4) suggestions to improve correctional services to help the sector realize its full potential and maximize workplace health.We discuss the implications of these findings, with an emphasis on finding ways to promote positive organizational and cultural change in correctional services.
Keywords: Correctional workers, Mental Health, stigma, Occupational hierarchy, Organizational Change
Received: 17 Jul 2023;
Accepted: 09 Jan 2024.
Copyright: © 2024 Coulling, Johnston and Ricciardelli. 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) or licensor 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.
* Correspondence: Dr. Matthew S. Johnston, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Canada