This article offers an example of how individual choices can have wide-ranging effects, starting with overcoming a sense of “learned helplessness.”

One key focus of our course, “From Corrections Fatigue to Fulfillment™” (CF2F), is empowering staff by constantly asking, “What can YOU do to help improve ____?” (Whatever an area of concern may be.) This question applies to all correctional employees, from frontline staff to wardens and Executive Directors/Commissioners. While each role has different levels of authority and influence, everyone’s contributions are essential for meaningful and lasting progress in criminal justice reform.

However, initially class participants may feel stumped by that question. It may not have occurred to them that there ARE actions THEY can take (no matter how seemingly small or insignificant) to move the needle to a greater positive. Why might that be?

When people (or animals) find themselves in situations where they are unable to escape chronically traumatic or other high stress conditions, they develop what psychologists have called learned helplessness1. They lose hope. They come to believe that there is nothing that they can do to end their distressing circumstances. So, they may resign themselves to what to them is their inescapable fate, perhaps resorting to blaming and complaining as their main coping mechanism, or just trying to endure.

It is no secret that corrections work can be draining. It can crush those involved spiritually and psychologically, and eventually physically as well. Could correctional staff subjected to a barrage of chronic and unavoidable stressors end up experiencing learned helplessness? Yes, I believe that this can happen. And when a resigned mindset sets in, people don’t even try to think about ways to take steps towards positive change. The ability to problem-solve effectively diminishes, and the distress experienced increases. People may just hang in there, trying to endure, or they give up.

Our perspective and our experience at Desert Waters is that even if we may not be able to change the big picture, there ARE things that we can do help ourselves and even those around us.

Here are some examples of how this can work at the individual level:

  • Nutrition: We control what we eat, which affects our physical and mental health. Research shows that good nutrition, along with managing alcohol and tobacco use, impacts overall well-being.
  • Physical Activity: We can decide how active or sedentary we are, influencing our health and even life expectancy.
  • Sleep: We have control over our sleep habits when not working, impacting our overall health.
  • Mental Health: We can choose what we focus on outside of work, how well we take care of our needs, and how we engage in activities, which affects our mental well-being.
  • Social Interactions: We control how we treat others and build relationships both at home and work, impacting our social connections.
  • Attitude: We can decide how we view situations, which helps shape our attitude and our perspective.
  • Meaning and Purpose: We can choose where to find meaning and purpose in our lives, which contributes to our overall sense of fulfillment.

Let’s all choose to make empowering choices, regardless of job role and rank, from line staff to administrators, at home and at work. And we at Desert Waters aspire to practice what we preach. That is why when we saw a need in the arena of corrections staff wellness, we responded. We felt graced with the call to do so, and we trusted that there was something we could do to help, no matter how small it seemed against the vast oceans of need. So today, twenty-one years later, we are grateful to say that we are still being empowered to listen to staff and their families; design and deliver wellness curriculum; conduct research; build SafetyNet Accreditation™, our staff wellness accreditation program; publish books; and send out the Correctional Oasis every month.

What CAN YOU do to help improve what falls within your sphere of influence? And what WILL you do to achieve that?

1Seligman, M. E., & Maier, S. F. (1967). Failure to escape traumatic shock. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 74(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0024514