Burnout and Depersonalization Among Correctional Officers in Security Compared to Criminal Prison

We compared burnout levels among correctional officers in a security prison as opposed to correctional officers in a criminal prison. Unlike criminal prisons, security prisons are typified by terrorist activity. The prisoners in the criminal prison have been sentenced to long periods due to severe criminal offenses, high criminal involvement, and many unusual offenses, while security prisons are occupied by prisoners sentenced for offences considered as posing a national security risk. We expected to find a difference in burnout levels between correctional officers who work in a security prison and those who work in a criminal prison. The study participants were 174 correctional officers in a criminal prison and in a security prison, as well as shift commanders and deputies. They were asked about their impression of the level of burnout among correctional officers in their shifts. The participants filled in an anonymous questionnaire which included demographic details and a questionnaire of burnout and depersonalization—the Maslach Burnout Inventory–General Survey (MBI-GS), developed by Maslach and Jackson (1981). We found that correctional officers in a criminal prison report higher emotional exhaustion and use higher depersonalization than correctional officers in a security prison. We try to explain this finding from the perspective of the existential approach.