INFORMED CONSENT
You are invited to take part in a research study about correctional officers’ mental health and wellness. This form is part of a process called “informed consent” to allow you to understand this study before deciding whether to take part.
This study seeks approximately 40 volunteers who are:
Over the age of 18
Currently employed as uniformed correctional staff at a jail or prison
This study is being conducted by a researcher named Sagan Ladd, who is a Doctoral student at Walden University.
Currently employed as uniformed correctional staff at a jail or prison
This study is being conducted by a researcher named Sagan Ladd, who is a Doctoral student at Walden University.
Study Purpose
The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of the mental health and wellness of uniformed correctional staff.
Procedures
After you consent, this study would involve you completing the following steps:
Confirm that you qualify by answering a few questions about the study requirements
Complete an anonymous web-based questionnaire (approximately 20 minutes in duration)
Here are the types of questions you will be asked:
Complete an anonymous web-based questionnaire (approximately 20 minutes in duration)
Here are the types of questions you will be asked:
You will answer demographic questions like the following: “How long have you been employed as uniformed correctional staff?”
Rate on a scale from 0(never) to 6(every day) how often you feel this way about your job:
“I feel emotionally drained from my work.”
“I feel used up at the end of the workday.”
Rate on a scale from A(does not describe me well) to E(describes me very well) how much the following statement describes you?:
“I sometimes find it difficult to see things from the "other guy's" point of view.”
Rate from 1(very unlike me) to 5(very like me) how much the following statements describe you:
“Given enough provocation, I may hit another person.”
“I often find myself disagreeing with people.”
Rate on a scale from 0(never) to 6(every day) how often you feel this way about your job:
“I feel emotionally drained from my work.”
“I feel used up at the end of the workday.”
Rate on a scale from A(does not describe me well) to E(describes me very well) how much the following statement describes you?:
“I sometimes find it difficult to see things from the "other guy's" point of view.”
Rate from 1(very unlike me) to 5(very like me) how much the following statements describe you:
“Given enough provocation, I may hit another person.”
“I often find myself disagreeing with people.”
Voluntary Nature of the Study
Research should only be done with those who freely volunteer. So everyone involved will respect your decision to join or not.
If you decide to join the study now, you can still change your mind later. You may stop at any time.
Risks and Benefits of Being in the Study
Being in this study could involve some risk of minor discomforts that can be encountered in daily life, such as sharing sensitive information. With the protections in place, this study would pose minimal risk to your well-being. If distress arises, support and referral can be obtained via dialing 988 for a national crisis hotline.
Like most research, this study offers no direct benefits to individual volunteers. The aim of this study is to benefit society by improving our understanding of burnout among correctional officers and how it affects their mental health and wellness. Results of this study will be published online in Scholarworks and possibly other research sources that are easily found if you search for the researcher’s name along with the study topic.
Payment
There will be no compensation for participation in this study.
Privacy
The researcher is required to protect your privacy. Data will be kept secure by password-protection. Data will be kept for a period of at least 5 years, as required by the university.
Protecting your name: No identifying information, including your name, will be collected from you during your participation in this study.
Protecting your responses and other information: The researcher is authorized to publicly share anonymized group patterns from the volunteers’ responses. The researcher will not use your recording or responses for any purposes outside of this research project. The researcher is only permitted to share your responses with other researchers and analysis tools if all names, places, voices, images, and other identifying details have been removed. Please note that this researcher is mandated to report any disclosure of ongoing child abuse or neglect.