Mental Health Status of Correctional Officers in Correctional Institutions

Kwang-Hoon Kim; Jong-Ik Park; Soo-Jung Lee; Kwang-Ho Jang

doi:10.4306/jknpa.2017.56.1.20

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Kim, Park, Lee, and Jang: Mental Health Status of Correctional Officers in Correctional Institutions

Original Article

Journal of Korean Neuropsychiatric Association 2017; 56(1): 20-27.

Published online: 28 February 2017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4306/jknpa.2017.56.1.20

Mental Health Status of Correctional Officers in Correctional Institutions

Kwang-Hoon Kim, MD¹, Jong-Ik Park, MD, PhD, LLM^1,², Soo-Jung Lee, MPH, PhD³, Kwang-Ho Jang, MD¹

¹Department of Psychiatry, Chuncheon National Hospital, Chuncheon, Korea.

²Department of Psychiatry, Kangwon National University School of Medicine, Chuncheon, Korea.

³Department of Nursing, Kyungnam University, Changwon, Korea.

Address for correspondence: Jong-Ik Park, MD, PhD, LLM. Department of Psychiatry, Kangwon National University School of Medicine, 156 Baengnyeong-ro, Chuncheon 24289, Korea. Tel +82-33-258-9171, Fax +82-33-254-1376, lugar@kangwon.ac.kr

Received 18 October 2016 Revised 12 December 2016 Accepted 14 December 2016

Abstract

Objectives

The purpose of this study was to measure the current mental health status of correctional officers by using various assessment instruments. The results of the study could help establish appropriate mental health-related solutions and policies for the officers.

Methods

The study enrolled 2571 correctional officers from 50 correctional facilities in South Korea in 2011. They were asked to answer or rate their occupational experiences within various investigative inventories and scales including the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), the Korean Occupational Stress Scale (KOSS), the Job Satisfaction Scale by Davison and Cooper, the Korean version of the Beck Depression Inventory (K-BDI), and Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale (RSE).

Results

Based on MBI results, the burnout score of the correctional officers was higher than that of the other occupations. Using the KOSS data, the average occupational stress of the correctional officer was higher than that of the other occupations. The officers' average job satisfaction score was lower than that of the other occupations. The average depression level of the correctional officers derived from K-BDI data was 9.36. The average RSE score of correctional officers was lower than that for the other occupations.

Conclusion

This research revealed that the mental health status of correctional officers is poorer than that for other occupations. This finding emphasizes the need for a system to regularly assess the mental health status of correctional officers and to find solutions that can improve their mental health status.

Keywords: Correctional institution, Correctional officers, Mental health

Figures and Tables

Table 1

Sociodemographic characteristics of correctional officers

Table 2

Means and standard deviations (SDs) of psychological factors in male and female correctional officers

Table 3

Correctional officers working conditions and treatments at the correctional institutions [n (%)]

Notes

^{Conflicts of Interest} The authors have no financial conflicts of interest.

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