Prison employees have the same rate of PTSD as that of Iraqi and Afghani war war veterans, claims a new study done by Washington State University College of Nursing. The study was published in the journal American Journal of Industrial Medicine.
Working in a prison can be mentally excruciating for prison employees as they are regularly exposed to violence and trauma and sometimes also receive threats of harm to themselves and their families. Studies done in the past show that in the US, rates of mental illness, sleep disorders and other physical health problems are the highest amongst prison workers. The problem seems to be that many do not understand the rates of PTSD in prison workers.
Lois James, assistant professor at the Washington State University’s College of Nursing, and co-investigator Natalie Todak, assistant professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham decided to conduct a research to figure what might be the reason behind such high rates of PTSD in prison employees.
“Prison employees can face some of the toughest working conditions of U.S. workers,” explained James, “yet limited evidence exists on the specific risk and protective factors to inform targeted interventions.”
For the study, James and Todak worked with 355 employees from one labor union at the Washington State Department of Corrections.
The study’s findings clearly showed that working conditions of the workers were extremely poor. Working under a constant state of threat to their personal safety is especially traumatic. Nearly a quarter of employees reported that they regularly experienced threats to their and their families’ safety.
Many prison employees also reported that they experienced or witnessed violence by the inmates. About half of those who participated reported that they have witnessed a co-worker or two being severely injured by prison inmates.
Scientists also reported that more than half of the inmates have witnessed an inmate’s death or encountered an inmate who recently passed away. They also reported that there is a vast majority of prison employees who had to deal with inmates who had been recently beaten and/or sexually assaulted.
PTSD rates were especially high in women, black employees and employees who had been working in prison for longer than 10 years. Surprisingly PTSD scores, which are calculated using a criteria from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, did not come out to be different based on where the prison employees worked- in a minimum security or maximum security prison facility.
Although James and Todak recommend further research but they suggest that the findings can help prison workplaces protect their employees from PTSD like encouraging good relationships between supervisors and co-workers.