The impact of trauma on safety and wellbeing: Findings from one Midwest prison

• In Event: Health and Mental Health: Challenges and Opportunities for People Living and Working in Prisons

Abstract

Trauma among individuals involved in the criminal legal system is often underassessed and overrepresented. Incarcerated individuals experience violence and trauma at rates substantially higher than the general population. This study explores how experiences of trauma during childhood and adulthood affect someone’s sense of safety and security in a medium security prison in the Midwest. 461 incarcerated men completed a culture and climate survey as part of a larger study. Among the respondents, 59% experienced interpersonal trauma as a child and 44% experienced it as an adult. Feelings of safety and wellbeing were lower for individuals who experienced trauma as an adult (p<.01; t=2.8) and who had experienced trauma within the adult correctional system (p<.01; t=3.2). These relationships hold when controlling for age, race, marital status, serving in the armed forces, having family incarcerated, and how many years they had ever spent in prison (p<.01). Our work demonstrates a need for continued assessment and intervention for traumatic experiences among persons involved in the criminal legal system.

Authors

• Ashley Givens, University of Missouri

• Kelli E. Canada, University of Missouri

• Beth Huebner, Arizona State University

• Janet Garcia-Hallett, University of New Haven