The Marshall Project | A Strabuk
In early 2025, prison leaders began routinely tapping psychologists to act as prison guards, according to interviews with psychologists and incarcerated people and confirmed by the Bureau of Prisons. Psychologists are, by policy, exempted from this practice, “except in emergency situations” such as escapes or riots. They say being repeatedly pulled away from their jobs puts the agency’s core mission — preparing people to be successful when they leave prison — at risk, and threatens the foundation of their therapeutic relationship with their patients.