The role of detention officers at recreation time among women incarcerated in a southwest county jail

Abstract

There are about a quarter million women incarcerated in the U.S. While incarcerated, many women deal with mental and physical health issues and inadequate access to healthcare services. One well-being program offered in most jail and prison settings is recreation time, a time for people incarcerated to exercise. Exercise and time outdoors can contribute to positive health outcomes, including alleviating depression. Women incarcerated value recreation time for fresh air, natural light, mental health benefits, and opportunity to exercise. However, a large portion do not attend recreation time and often face a variety of barriers to their attendance. Among the factors that influence women’s rec-time attendance are detention officers (DOs). Further research is needed to explore DOs’ role at recreation time. Using two cross-sectional questionnaires at the Coconino County Detention Facility, this study explored and compared women’s and DOs’perspectives on DO-related factors influencing recreation time among women incarcerated. The results indicated that the DOs have a limited role at recreation time, which was primarily as a neutral and impersonal facilitator. While DOs and women shared similar views on the women’s attendance of recreation time and the DOs’ role as a recreation time facilitator, they had differing views about whether DOs could impact whether women attended recreation time and the barriers that women face in accessing it. Women incarcerated indicated the various types of roles DOs have at recreation time and offered recommendations for the jail and DOs about how to improve the program