The Correctional Oasis January 2020, Volume 17, Issue 1 Contents: 1. Breaking the “I’m Good” Code of Silence 2. CF2F Instructor Training in CO 3. We Suffer in Silence 4. Michigan House of Representa/0es ,earing 1. 2esert )aters’ Book Bundles 3 S.ecials through January 4. The 5aughing 5ady 7. CF) Instructor Training in CO 8. ,a0e you Found Meaning in 5ife7 Scientific Study Says the Answer Could 2etermine ,ealth and 5onge0ity 9. Comments about True Grit: Building Resilience in Corrections Professionals=$ 10. TG Instructor Training in CO 11. My Christmas E0e in Prison 12. 2)CO’s Research Ser0ices 13. Many Thanks 14. Quote of the Month )ishing you a year of .eace and growth in e0ery good way@ 2)CO 17 Aears32003-2020 To contact us, go to htt.:CCdesertwaters.comC7.age_idE744 or call 719-784-4727. 2esert )aters Correctional Outreach, Inc., hel.s correctional agencies counter Corrections Fatigue in their staff by culti0ating a healthier work.lace climate and a more engaged workforce through targeted skill-based training and research. Breaking the I’m Good$ Code of Silence 2020 F Caterina S.inaris, Ph2 )hat It Is and ,ow It )orks )hen we hear the term code of silence$ most of us think of .eer .ressure to not re.ort .olicy 0iolations or any other ty.e of .rofessional misconduct committed by co-workers in a law enforcement setting. This article is about another kind of code of silence, the I’m good$ code of silence one that, sadly, may be of e.idemic .ro.ortions in corrections. The I’m good$ code of silence is about .eer and organiGational .ressure to co0er u. one’s own .ersonal distress and emotional turmoil, es.ecially when these are due to the im.act of the Hob. This code of silence is Hust as damaging as any .ractice of a code of silence about .rofessional misconduct, and, regarding its effects on well-being, it can be deadly. I still remember one correctional officer telling me that when he Hoined a corrections agency, other custody staff would not talk to him. But after he dealt with an inmate murder without showing any emotion, he was warmly embraced by 0eteran staff and welcomed into the fold. ,e told me that the ob0ious message he got was that he should not show that he was bothered by anything gruesome he witnessed at work. This correctional officer went on to work for 14 years in 1 corrections. 2uring the course of his career he de0elo.ed a de.endence on alcohol and tobacco .roducts, and a .ro.ensity to .lay 0iolent com.uter games after work for 1 or more hours, .ractically daily. )hy does the I’m good$ code of silence e0en eIist7 Being emotionally im.acted by the Hob is 0iewed by the workforce culture as e0idence of being weak,$ not worthy of res.ect, unde.endable in a crisis, and ultimately unfit for the Hob. Consequently, the .eer .ressure to conform to this standard of I’m good$ is .owerful. )hen an attitude of us against them$ .re0ails in corrections work en0ironments (regarding the di0ision between staff and offendersL, that enmity dictates that staff not show to offenders that they (the offendersL ha0e succeeded in getting to$ the staff in any way. In order not to let them think they’0e won, the staff do whate0er they can to look strong, in0incible, im.enetrable3no matter what they’0e been through. It should be .ointed out that an attitude of resilience and hardiness may 0ery well be necessary during and shortly after an incident. Staff need to remain in charge of the situation and res.ond quickly, effecti0ely, and .rofessionally, showing that they remain unruffled, unyielding, strong, and in control. And this stance con0eys to offenders that staff are not cowering in fear, and that their s.irits are high, not broken. For eIam.le, an assaulted staff member may o.t to tour the unit after their assault before lea0ing for a medical check or after returning from such a check. And if staff say that they are ready to come back to work relati0ely quickly after an incident, that may be in fact the case. ,owe0er, at some .oint, and sooner rather than later, staff will need to .rocess through the e0ent. This can be done by using emotional su..ort .ro0ided through .eers or lo0es ones, or by seeking .rofessional hel. that em.loys trauma resolution techniques, such as Eye Mo0ement 2esensitiGation and Re.rocessing (EM2RL or Trauma-Focused Cogniti0e Beha0ioral Thera.y. In workforce cultures where the I’m good$ code of silence reigns, the .re0alent eI.ectation among corrections staff (es.ecially custody staffL is that, when asked how they are doing following a critical incident, their answer will be: I’m good@$ Or, I signed u. for this. I trained for this.$ Or, It was Hust an inmate.$ Or, I don’t need to talk to .eer su..ort or a cha.lain. I’m Hust fine.$ Or, after they ha0e been assaulted, I don’t need to go to the hos.ital.$ Or, I want to come back to work tomorrow.$ That is, after eI.eriencing an eItremely stressful e0ent, staff may eI.ect (and also they may be eI.ected by their .eers and by their su.er0isorsL to get back on the horse$ immediately, or to not e0en fall off the horse in the first .lace, and to go back to discharging their duties like nothing significant ha..ened. )omen staff, es.ecially custody staff, can fall into same tra., as they seek .rofessional acce.tance and belonging. In a way, women staff eI.erience e0en more .ressure than the men to not show emotional distress on the Hob. )omen staff ha0e to o0ercome some male staff’s bias against them for working in a custody role. They also ha0e to o0ercome concerns male staff may ha0e that women may be too emotional and too em.athetic, and consequently too fragile to do custody work. That is why women custody staff may ha0e to .ro0e themsel0es$ twice as much as men staff in order to be acce.ted as one of the guys.$ On the surface, saying I’m good$ after a traumatic eI.osure looks like true resilience, true grit, toughness, strength to co.e with ad0ersity effecti0ely and to bounce back.$ ,owe0er, the staff’s claim of no ad0erse consequences of traumatic e0ents may not be true resilience at all. In fact, some research has named this ty.e of beha0ior negati0e resilience$ 1, false grit. Negati0e resilience has been defined as the resemblance, the a..earance, the im.ression of resilience after traumatic eI.osure, when in reality those eI.osed are co.ing .oorly. Negati0e resilience is fake, a cardboard cut-out, an imitation3not the real thing. Negati0e resilience is based on machismo. The word machismo deri0es from the word macho, which in S.anish means male. According to the Merriam-)ebster 2 2ictionary, machismo is defined as a strong sense of masculine .ride, an exaggerated masculinity. Negative resilience has been attributed to “disenfranchised distress.” 1 “Disenfranchised” means that the distress is present, but it is suppressed, not allowed to be expressed. This is due to fear of rejection or ridicule by one’s peers because of the unwritten “rules” of the organizational culture about how staff are to respond after trauma. The distress may also be suppressed, hidden, due to fear of losing one’s job if declared unfit for duty. Because of the peer pressure of the “I’m good” code of silence, corrections staff learn to keep their innermost life concealed even from their closest friends and family members. It is as if one is wearing a laughing face mask, but, behind the mask, they are weeping. I can’t begin to count the times I’ve heard it said after a corrections employee died by suicide, “We had no idea s/he was hurting! There were absolutely NO signs of distress!” So, because of practicing the “I’m good” code of silence, affected individuals can appear unscathed following traumatic incidents. And due to the fact that a corrections career offers a “steady diet” of traumatic exposure and cumulative traumatic effects, at some point they can no longer keep up the front of “I’m fine,” and they “crash.” This process has been called the “twin peaks effect,” 1 with the first peak in traumatic symptoms occurring soon after a traumatic stressor, but subsiding quickly, leading the person and those around them to conclude that they have recovered. The second peak of traumatic symptoms occurs at a much later time, and involves the onset of full-blown PTSD and/or other conditions, such as major depressive disorder. The period between the two peaks is the stretch where negative resilience is masking the affected individual’s mounting distress. A study of French police officers reported that their “crash” occurred on average 16 years after a significant traumatic incident, and was measured by the officers’ suicide rates. 1 The Damage It Causes The “I’m good” code of silence strips staff of their freedom to acknowledge to themselves and to others any lasting emotional wounding due to the job, or to accept that they are unable to work through traumatic experiences on their own. So practicing the “I’m good” code of silence rewards affected staff with the short-term gain of earning their peers’ respect, and experiencing pride and self-satisfaction that they are tough.