The Many Roles Of A Prison Psychologist

Sunday, March 1, 2009

yal PoeSat, a ‘eer’. oe ae The Many Roles O (NAPSA)—While many graduate students face a shrinking job market in difficult economic times, this is not the case for many graduates of doctoral programsin clinical and counseling psychology. That's because a numberof these graduates are finding employment opportunities in the field of correctional psychology. Correctional psychologists work in prisons across the country providing direct services to inmates and consultative services to staff. Direct inmate services may include assessment, crisis intervention, and individual or group therapy. Psychologists assist inmates throughout their incarceration, from their initial adjustment to prison life to their preparation for return to the community. Consultative services for staff include employee assistance counseling, staff training, and guidance regarding the management of disruptive inmates. Stated more broadly, prison psychologists work to maintain a healthy environmentfor both staff and inmates. According to Kathleen Hawk Sawyer, a psychologist and former director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), “Corrections is a field that needs psychologists. It needs psychologists to work with inmates, to counsel and train staff, to evaluate programs and to play a role in policy-making. And what component of society could be more deserving of the best efforts psychologists can muster than public safety?” A typical correctional facility houses between 600 and 1,500 inmates. The chief psychologist at a BOPinstitution, for example, is responsible for managing a direct- Prison psychologists work to maintain a healthy environment for both staff and inmates. service psychology practice featuring a wide range of programs and a caseload more diverse and fascinating than the average psychologist might encounter. The BOP is the nation’s largest corrections agency and currently supports a team of over 450 doctoral-level psychologists providing psychology services in 115 institutions nationwide. Entry-level salaries for BOP psychologists range from $56,000$80,000, commensurate with experience and adjusted for the location’s cost of living. In addition, the BOP offers ample opportunities for career advancement and mobility. Additional benefits of a BOP career include life and health insurance, a generous retirement package, professional training, and, in most cases, clini- cal supervision for license-eligible psychologists. In addition, some locations offer student loan repayment and/or recruitment bonuses for psychologists. To learn more, visit the “Careers” link on BOP’s Website at www.bop.gov. If you have additional questions, e-mail the BOP’s Psychology Services Branch at BOPCPD/PsychologySvcs@bop.gov.

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