Introduction
There are limited studies conducted on the impact prison’s have on their correctional employees. Existing prison studies frequently focus on the well-being of prisoners, who are said to live in inhumane conditions. Unfortunately, the individuals who put their lives in potential danger to supervise and police the inmate population are overlooked in many research studies. This particular research will focus on the significance of prison staff shortages and how it is correlated to occupational stress among Correctional Officers. My hypothesis suggests there is a positive correlation between the two variables, as prison staff shortages increase, occupational stress among officers increase. For the purpose of this study occupational stress refers to, “stress related to one's job. Occupational stress often stems from unexpected responsibilities and pressures that do not align with a person's knowledge, skills, or expectations, inhibiting one's ability to cope.”

Internal Factors
Organizational Impacts of Staff Shortages
U.S Prisons will continue to possess an overrepresentation of the offender population leaving correctional staff to remain outnumbered. The U.S Department of Justice reported an estimated 6,613,500 incarcerated persons under U.S correctional supervision (Danielle Kaeble and Mary Cowhig, 2018). According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, there is approximately 10 officers for every 49 inmates in state prisons, and 10 officers to every 102 inmates in federal prisons nationwide. There are many contributing factors to prison staff shortages with the most significant one being organizational factors. Why are so many correctional facilities across different states struggling with retention? From the perspective of a correctional officer, administrative contributions to shortages include:

1. Poor leadership, oftentimes organizations are a reflection of their leader(s). Superiors are expected to portray oneself ...