Which CO Should We Attack? Applying Target Congruence to Correctional Staff Assault

Abstract

Recently, much attention has emphasized understanding the negative health outcomes of working in corrections; however, understanding correctional staff victimization has largely been neglected. Therefore, we aim to address this gap in the literature by using target congruence theory to better understand risk of physical assault and verbal and sexual harassment of institutional correctional staff. Using data from a statewide random sample of correctional staff, analyses reveal that target vulnerability is the most useful in understanding correctional staff assault and harassment. These findings indicate that mental health, specifically anxiety and depression, place correctional staff at a higher risk for victimization and staff who engaged in hostile behavior were at a higher risk for harassment.