Hello,
I’ve currently worked in behavioral health for 2.5 years now. It is a fulfilling career but unfortunately is something that has no growth potential unless you are pursuing further education. I have seen the good sides and bad sides of working in psych such as helping people out during their darkest times but also the downsides such as people comparing the situation to being in jail, suicide attempts, bodily fluid throwing, and patient/staff assault. I personally have been punched, kicked, bitten, spit at, and attempted to be stabbed by a pen a number of times.
I’ve noticed that a good amount of the complaints in corrections are similar to what I currently deal with working in behavioral health (staffing shortages, irregular hours, high stress, assault risk).
I was offered an opportunity to work in juvenile corrections in a neighboring county. I am on the fence because I hadn’t considered a career that is law enforcement adjacent before. But I would be open to it. Regarding juvenile corrections, I have worked on an adolescent behavioral unit before and do understand how teens can be impulsive, assaultive, creative, and manipulative when the moment is given. I don’t doubt that juvenile corrections would be much different compared to juvenile psych in terms of how each type of care is approached. I notice that a lot of the issues in both juvenile and psych stem from issues that go on in their lives outside of these places.
If anyone has experience in juvenile corrections or corrections in general feel free to leave your advice or if my experience is something actually worth the time. I see plenty of the horror stories on here that are shared by current COs when someone posts about considering corrections but for anyone with experience, please give me your two cents.
Thanks in advance