Extent and predictors of work-related distress in community correction officers: a systematic review

Listening to other people's traumatic experiences: What makes it hard and what could protect professionals from developing related distress? A qualitative investigation

Listening to people talk about their trauma experiences involves indirect exposure to trauma (IET) and can trigger emotional distress. Existing studies about the risk factors for post-IET distress have methodological limitations and reported inconsistent results, making their findings difficult to meaningfully synthesise. Also, most of them did not focus explicitly on trauma narratives and did not explore qualitatively the opinions and experiences of professionals who work closely with trauma survivors. The present study involved 36 professionals who worked with trauma survivors and used a qualitative design to investigate: (a) the perceived impact of the survivors' accounts, (b) the factors they deemed as important to be psychologically prepared for trauma accounts, and (c) their strategies for coping with IET. The semi-structured interviews conducted yielded rich data that was analysed thematically and organised in 13 subordinate themes, and 4 master themes. Listening to trauma narratives was thought to lead to emotional distress when it challenges the listener's 'basic assumptions' of safety and justice, when the listener has reduced sense of control and operates outside their 'window of tolerance', when empathic responses are too strong, and psychological preparedness for trauma-narratives is perceived as insufficient. Recommendations for future research and implications for practice are discussed.

Burnout Among Probation Officers: The Importance of Resilience

Like many human service professionals, probation officers are subject to a great deal of stress as part of their occupational duties. This study examines occupational stress and burnout among probation officers through the lens of the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model. This model suggests that organizational characteristics have implications for individual outcomes related to stress. However, the model largely neglects the role of individual factors, such as dispositional resilience. This study tests a refined model using cross-sectional surveys from 289 members of a probation officer union in the eastern United States. Results from structural equation modeling support the general predictions of the JD-R model in that job demands and job resources are correlated with burnout and engagement, which in turn predict health issues and intention to quit. Moreover, resilience significantly predicts every latent variable in the model, both directly and indirectly through its effect on intervening factors. Implications for workplace policy and practice are discussed.

Individual Characteristics and Organizational Attributes: An Assessment of Probation Officer Burnout and Turnover Intent

In recent years, Western and non-Western countries have experience increased reliance on probation services. However, prior research indicates that high job demands and ambiguous role responsibilities invoke feelings of stress and suggest the importance of understanding the relationship between stress and burnout and turnover. While past efforts largely focused on correctional officers (COs), less is known about how probation officers (POs) experience burnout and how organizational attributes may influence this relationship. Using survey data of federal POs (N = 80) across eight offices in a southern state, the current study examines the influence of individual characteristics and organizational attributes in predicting burnout and turnover intent. To answer our research questions, we perform a series of linear regression models. Findings suggest the importance of affective commitment for reducing POs' feelings of burnout and turnover intent. Implications of these findings and directions of future research are discussed.

"It's Pure Chaos Every Day": COVID-19 and the work of Canadian federal institutional parole officers

As the Canadian federal correctional system grappled with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, institutional parole officers, who play a central role in prisoners' case management team, remained essential service providers. Working in uncertain circumstances, these correctional workers navigated new and rapidly changing protocols and risks, while attempting to continue to provide support to those on their caseloads. Based on semi-structured interviews with 96 institutional parole officers, conducted after Canada's "first wave" of COVID-19 infections, we analyze three ways in which their work was impacted by the pandemic: shifting workloads, routines, and responsibilities; increased workloads due to decarceration (i.e., efforts to reduce the number of incarcerated individuals); and the navigation of new forms of risk and uncertainty. This study advances the understanding of stress and risk in probation and parole work and presents recommendations to ameliorate the occupational stresses experienced by correctional workers during and beyond COVID-19.