Safety & Sanity

A big part of the mission of Desert Waters Correctional Outreach (www.desertwaters.com) is to draw attention to the high incidence of secondary traumatic stress and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in the corrections ranks.

After talking with corrections staff and their family members for over 9 years now, I can say with reasonable certainty that a good number of correctional workers, especially security (custody) personnel, are struggling with symptoms of secondary traumatic stress or PTSD due to their exposure to horrifically violent incidents on the job.

This is usually not understood or addressed. Oftentimes staff tends to cover up or minimize their trauma-related symptoms because they do not want to admit that they were bothered by violence committed against inmates. And when they or other staff ate hurt, they may hide how they have been affected because they do not want to be labeled “weak.”

The following email is one person candid description of the impact of inmate-on-inmate violence on the staff. Please remember that the writer is not a rookie.

Dear Caterina:

We had another incident yesterday. It will be a miracle if the inmate lives. There was fight in the unit. Of course posts were vacated because there wasn’t enough staff to cover all of the jobs. Two inmates got into a fight during the shift change from day shift to evening shift. The inmate who was hurt had his head smashed open like a grapefruit. His brains were running out of his ears. They say if he lives he will be a vegetable. He was rushed to the hospital for emergency brain surgery. We also had to shoot an inmate off of the tier with the L-8 containing .60 caliber sting ball rounds. That’s two serious incidents in just over a month.

I wonder how much money will have to be spent dealing with emergencies before they understand that understaffing is not more cost-effective. I was one of the officers who were left alone on a post where two are normally assigned. I was like the exorcist trying to scramble to do the job by myself. Thank God no staff were injured. I talked with the Captain at length last night who praised me for a job well done. I told him I’m glad that things worked out as best as they possibly could, but that as far as I was concerned running like this was way too dangerous.

I was wired all night long.

Of course, for investigative purposes the blood was left on the floor to coagulate all night so everyone who walks into that unit will be traumatized by the gruesome display of violence that occurred there. I know that inmates are violent, and are in prison for a reason, and we all scoff at another one being taken off of the count, and we are thankful it was not staff. But the thought of another human being meeting his end or suffering through such an ordeal still haunts my thoughts. I think about the ones I care for and how I would feel if something like that ever happened to one of them. Even though they are convicts, it bothers me. I pray for God’s wisdom and peace to go back in today.

I pray that it won’t happen again today. I pray that my #2 is not pulled. What if I don’t do as good of a job next time? Please God, guide my hands and my mind when I react, help me to do a good job. That is what I say when I bow my head before I walk into the dungeon.

I thought I would share this with you. Please share it with the others in your organization. If they pray, have them pray for us all. Last night I saw the toll this is taking on our supervisors and administration too. I can see the creases of stress across their faces. My heart is even going out to them. They feel like they are losing control. I want to help them but I don’t know what I can do other than do my job the best I know how.

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ctudor Corrections Fatigue, PTSD corrections officers, traumatic stress