Promoting Wellness and Resiliency in Correctional Officers

Correctional officers face considerable stress, risk, and danger that lead to poor physical and mental health outcomes. In fact, their life expectancy is 15 years shorter than the national average. Public perception and media portrayals of correctional officers tend to reinforce stereotypes of brutish, improper, and uncontrolled behavior. Yet the reality is that correctional officers are operating a default public and mental health system for a sizeable portion of our society, a responsibility t