Date of Conferral

2022

Degree

Doctor of Public Health (DrPH)

School

Health Services

Advisor

Shanna Barnett

Abstract

Many major health concerns can be caused due to stress that stems from the demands put upon a person from their job. Correctional officers can experience high demands from their job as well as little control due to on-the-job experiences, such as being assaulted by an inmate, witnessing an assault by an inmate on another correctional officer, or having a complaint filed against them by an inmate. The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a relationship between these experiences and stress-related symptoms, such as gastrointestinal issues, headaches, neck or back pain, difficulty concentrating, and more while controlling for marital status, age, sex, veteran status, race or ethnicity, and if the officer has children. The number of years at a correctional officer’s post was used as a moderator to determine if exposure to assault and complaints would change the relationship with the outcome variable. To help understand this relationship, the job demand-control model was used as the theoretical framework. The data used for this study were from the U.S. Department of Justice regarding 515 correctional officers working within Massachusetts and Texas state prisons. A hierarchical regression analysis was performed to test the hypotheses and found having a complaint filed by an inmate was the only independent variable that showed significant results. The results of this study could result in positive social change through the use of prevention strategies that help correctional officers with coping mechanisms to help reduce stress levels and improve health outcomes after having a complaint filed against them. This study could also be used as the basis for further research to determine what other demands correctional officers may experience that cause them to have stress-related symptoms.

Download

Share

 
COinS