Correctional Officers and Domestic Violence: Experiences and Attitudes

This article presents the first statewide data regarding correctional officers’ attitudes about and personal experiences with domestic violence. Online surveys were administered to Florida correctional officers asking a series of questions, including their beliefs and attitudes about the prevalence of domestic violence among colleagues, and their childhood and adult experiences with domestic violence. Results from 710 officers revealed that 33?% of respondents knew about correctional officers who had committed unreported domestic violence; 30?% reported that they had directly experienced domestic violence as children; and over 11?% reported that they had been physically violent with an intimate partner. Multivariate statistics showed that age, race, and childhood experiences with domestic violence were significantly related to correctional officers reporting being physically abusive to an intimate partner or family member. These and other findings highlight the need for increased agency prevention efforts and research on the phenomenon of correctional officer-involved domestic violence.