“It’s Pure Chaos Every Day”: COVID-19 and the work of Canadian federal institutional parole officers

Abstract

As the Canadian federal correctional system grappled with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, institutional parole officers, who play a central role in prisoners’ case management team, remained essential service providers. Working in uncertain circumstances, these correctional workers navigated new and rapidly changing protocols and risks, while attempting to continue to provide support to those on their caseloads. Based on semi-structured interviews with 96 institutional parole officers, conducted after Canada’s “first wave” of COVID-19 infections, we analyze three ways in which their work was impacted by the pandemic: shifting workloads, routines, and responsibilities; increased workloads due to decarceration (i.e., efforts to reduce the number of incarcerated individuals); and the navigation of new forms of risk and uncertainty. This study advances the understanding of stress and risk in probation and parole work and presents recommendations to ameliorate the occupational stresses experienced by correctional workers during and beyond COVID-19.

“It’s Like the Zombie Apocalypse Here”: Correctional Officer Perspectives on the Deleterious Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Now more than ever, they need our attention and understanding, and hopefully continued scholarly focus on their welfare can help them navigate the troubled waters of their profession. Along this point, more research is needed specifically on officers employed in densely populated urban jail facilities where risks associated with COVID-19, according to extant research, are exacerbated greatly, even in comparison to other correctional workers (i.e., prison and parole officers; Kocsis, 2021 ; Martin-Howard, 2022 ; Norman & Ricciardelli, 2022 ). While nearly everyone across the globe has suffered adverse consequences resulting from the virus, jail officers, due to the conditions of their employment, are at heightened risk for pandemic harm, and increased focus on this professional workgroup is highly warranted.…”

“…While some studies have explored the impact of COVID-19 on the broader corrections system ( Hyatt et al, 2021 ; Jung & Han, 2021 ; Mekonnen et al, 2021 ; Norman & Ricciardelli, 2022 ; Okoro et al., 2020 ), only two specifically examined how institutional correctional officers have been directly affected by this pandemic. In the first, multivariate estimations performed by Kocsis (2021) found that disruptions to prison system operations, coupled with heightened safety concerns, contributed to elevated stress among COs working in federal Canadian penitentiaries.…”

“…Customarily qualitative interviews are conducted in-person, yet due to COVID-19 physical distancing restrictions in place during the data collection period, the best alternative was to hold all interviews over the telephone. Norman and Ricciardelli (2022) adopted the same procedure in their study, and indicated how “there is evidence that telephone interviews do not inhibit rapport-building, and may in fact allow participants to discuss sensitive topics with greater comfort” (p. 6). Respondents were afforded the option of conducting the interviews over a video conferencing forum, zoom, yet because many only had time to be interviewed during their approximately 1-hour commute either to or from work, they elected to be interviewed over the phone.…”

Problem-solving Covid-19: A qualitative inquiry into how correctional officers and administrators have responded to the dynamic problems of the coronavirus pandemic.

“…A search of the published literature on the topic of correctional responses/solutions to the pandemic produced a number of empirical works, none of which though involved collection of data from frontline institutional corrections staff regarding their own solutions (Martyn et al, 2022; Nelson & Kaminsky, 2020; Norman & Ricciardelli, 2022; Oladeru et al, 2020). Instead, many of the proposed strategies to overcome Covid-19-related issues originated from academics.…”

“…They also found how these policies angered the incarcerated population given their beliefs that unfair and unnecessary restrictions were being imposed on their bodies (Martin-Howard, 2022). Taken together, these professional problems contributed to heightened burnout and stress among staff (Norman & Ricciardelli, 2022). In consideration of these serious problems generated by the pandemic, it becomes crucial to research ways of resolving them.…”