Faculty Publications

Negative Impact Of The Job: Secondary Trauma Among Juvenile Detention And Juvenile Probation Officers

Document Type

Article

Keywords

juvenile corrections, juvenile detention, juvenile probation, secondary trauma

Journal/Book/Conference Title

Violence and Victims

Volume

35

Issue

1

First Page

68

Last Page

87

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to extend the existing literature on the workplace experiences of staff who work with juvenile offenders. We do this by assessing the extent of secondary trauma among a sample of juvenile detention officers and juvenile probation officers, and examine whether or not predictors of secondary trauma differ by position. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression results based on a survey of 298 staff reveal that secondary trauma is relatively low among both juvenile detention officers and juvenile court/probation officers. Additionally, results indicate predictors of secondary trauma differ for each of these job positions. Experiencing threat or harm from offenders increased secondary trauma for detention officers but not for probation/court officers. However, having a higher level of education and input into decision-making decreased secondary trauma for probation/court officers, but not for detention officers. Greater support from coworkers led to decreased secondary trauma for both detention and probation/court officers. Implications for detention and probation agencies include efforts to improve supervisor and coworker support, as well as debriefing sessions after threat of harm incidents have occurred.

Department

Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminology

Original Publication Date

2-1-2020

DOI of published version

10.1891/0886-6708.VV-D-18-00141

Repository

UNI ScholarWorks, Rod Library, University of Northern Iowa

Language

en

Link to Full Text

Comments?

Share

COinS