By Raymon Keefauver
Corrections officers with one year or more of experience are requested to participate in doctoral research.
Working in corrections is a stressful job as officers are exposed to violence, work long shifts and experience struggles with administration. Workplace stress impacts physical and mental health, and disrupts family relationships. Corrections officer are susceptible to job burnout and traumatic stress reactions due to the nature of the job.
The purpose of the study is to determine if there are personality features that make certain corrections officers more likely to develop stress-related illness due to their work environment. The information can be used to help administration develop ways to prevent stress-related illness in the workplace, as well as assist mental health providers in treating the illness to aid in recovery.
All information will be kept confidential and records will be destroyed. You do not need to provide your name or other identifying information. The survey takes about 20 minutes to complete. The only risk of participating in this study is that some of the questions could stir memories of traumatic events. If that were to occur, please seek the care of a mental health professional. There are three sections to the survey. To participate, click on each of the following links:
1. https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/KK816/
2. http://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/H540K/
3. http://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/5HBCA/
It is my hope that the research will aid in job satisfaction, recovery from burnout and traumatic stress reactions, and will aid in making changes to administrative policies to support a safe corrections environment.
About the Author
Raymon Keefauver is a PhD candidate at Northcentral University doing a doctoral dissertation related to personality traits associated with corrections staff and stress-related illnesses.