ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Forensic and Legal Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1525875
This article is part of the Research TopicMotivational Interviewing in Forensic SettingsView all 3 articles
Emotional Experiences of Korean Correctional Officers in Response to Incarcerated Persons' Self-Harm: A Qualitative Study
Provisionally accepted
Ji-Hye Lee1
Hyung-Ran Park2*- 1Hyejeon College, Hongsung, Republic of Korea
- 2Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, Republic of Korea
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This study aimed to understand the experiences of correctional officers who deal closely with incarcerated persons who self-harm. Self-harm among incarcerated persons not only threatens the physical health of these individuals but also takes a toll on the mental health of correctional officers. A qualitative research method was utilised, with data collected through in-depth interviews of 15 participants from March 2022 to November 2022 and analysed utilising Colaizzi’s method. The results contained seven themes categorised into three theme clusters: ‘Suffering from psychological threat and pressure’, ‘Negative emotions encroaching into daily life’, and ‘Seeking stability by shifting perspective’. The findings underscore the need for trained professionals and programmes to effectively address the complex mental health challenges faced by correctional officers as they deal with incarcerated persons who self-harm.
Keywords: Correctional facilities, Humans, Self-injurious Behaviour, Prison, qualitative research
Received: 10 Nov 2024; Accepted: 29 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Lee and Park. 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: Hyung-Ran Park, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, Republic of Korea
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