The Relationship Between Stress, Burnout and Coping Strategies Among Prison Psychologists: A Phenomenological Study

Prison staff endure high levels of stress and burnout due to the unique and dangerous work setting correctional facilities provide. Despite today's overwhelming amount of research on prison staff, the experiences of mental health care professionals, specifically psychologists, is underrepresented in current research. This qualitative phenomenological study was designed to explore the lived experiences and perceptions of psychologists working within correctional facilities and to better understand the factors they perceive to be contributors to stress and burnout. The study also aimed to gain an understanding of how prison psychologists cope with stress and prevent burnout. Four licensed clinical psychologists working in correctional facilities were interviewed for this study. The interviews were transcribed, coded, and analyzed for overlapping themes. Ten themes emerged from the 4 interviews: 8 salient themes and 2 other less prominent, but nonetheless noteworthy themes. Participants similarly defined stress and burnout; reported similar triggers of stress and burnout; experienced the same sense of loss of control over their work due to facility bureaucracy; experienced heavy workload; shared similar perspectives on inmate population; and reported similar methods of coping. This study serves to fill the knowledge gap about the correctional psychologists' experience in the work place. Thus, providing psychologists with further information on possible job expectations for employees within corrections and effective ways of coping with stress and burnout.