Correctional Officer Mental Health Forgotten Issue, New Video Says – Update for September 19, 2025

We post news and comment on federal criminal justice issues, focused primarily on trial and post-conviction matters, legislative initiatives, and sentencing issues.

PRISON DOESN’T JUST DRIVE INMATES CRAZY

A 21-minute documentary, “Behind the Wall,” released last week on YouTube, spotlights a critical issue in America’s jails and prisons that is much less discussed than inmate mental health: the toll of trauma on correctional officers.

Behind the Wall explores the human cost for those tasked with maintaining order in a system that can be dehumanizing for anyone who touches it.

Through the voices of correctional officers, the film reveals how the work impacts their physical and mental health, their families, and their communities — and calls for wellness programs dedicated to supporting corrections staff.

Corrections 1 said the film “continues a body of documentary work recognized globally for bringing attention to the realities of prisons and the urgent need for systemic change.”

I found the video sobering and insightful, not the whiny woe-is-us plaint I usually hear from Bureau of Prisons union reps. The 21 minutes I devoted to watching the program were well spent.

I had an inmate reader scoff at my report on this earlier in my newsletter. He expressed complete uninterest, even disdain, in any discussion on the mental well-being of correctional officers.  Obviously,  COs are human beings. If prisoners want to be treated decently, they have to be equally interested in seeing that those around them – including COs – are treated decently.

Beyond that, there’s some real inmate self-interest here. COs who are mentally stressed, unable to control depression or rage, or slipping into substance abuse are less likely to have professional and courteous interactions with their wards.  From gratuitous violence to simple refusal to help get a sick prisoner to medical services, COs suffering from personal crises are unlikely to be of much help to inmates suffering their own.

Corrections1, ‘Behind the Wall’ documentary highlights toll of prison work on correctional officers (September 9, 2025)

YouTube, Behind the Wall

~ Thomas L. Root