Section One The main purpose of reading 6 as witnessed by Metz, A. (2002) in “Life on the Inside: The Jailers”, the author describes just how jailers live inside our correctional facilities. The jailers themselves point out how the conditions and the stressful environment they go through when dealing with inmates. The key question that is being addressed is how officer’s deal with the same issues the inmates encounter inside, therefore becoming a product of their working environment. Officers have to deal with human behavior that nobody wants on the outside. The stigma the community has placed in jailers is that they are no different than those that have been incarcerated, especially when there is violence toward an inmate. During the time …show more content…
(2008). The main purpose of this article was that the internal culture that resides inside the jails ultimately depends on how the inmates may adapt to the environment. The culture is in form of polices, rules and attitudes of the correction officers. The importance of the correction officer ability to humanize inmates will have a greater success rate of how the officers are treated themselves, thus reducing their own stress levels in their work environment. The main assumption from this article is that although it’s difficult to gaze how every inmate will adjust once inside the system different factors are considered to include the attitude of the officers. The criminal history of the inmate plays a role as well on how quickly he or she will adapt. When policies are in place, life inside the jail is much simpler to abide by because of the rules and the structure that is in place and expected to be followed. The structure creates a better environment not only for the inmates but the jailers as well. The limitation of this article was that it was based more on female offenders and not male offenders. Punishment does not or should not change based on ones gender. As a former officer in the jails all inmates are treated equally as far as punishment and discipline is …show more content…
The bottom line is that regardless of what environment we are contained to, the way one treats another person will have an effect on their own environment and their own stress level. This problem will continue until we can humanize the individual away from the environment. The problems of the jails have changed over the years as well, today we see less overcrowding based on (2014) Bureau of Justice Statistics, Annual Survey of Jails, statistic report that was written by “Todd D. Minton and Daniela Golinelli”. It shows a dramatic decrease of male incarcerations between 2012 and 2013. In addition, higher turnover rates among jail personnel are attributed as officers use their experience as stepping stones for other agencies. In speaking to local jailers here in El Paso panic alarms are not worn by officers; Today’s jail standards require a minimum amount of officers per inmates to properly monitor their daily interaction inside the
Overall, both books, Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing and Inside: Life Behind Bars in America and both authors Ted Conover and Michael Santos, give unique perspectives of the life inside prison. Both for corrections officers and inmates, life within prison can be difficult. Both Conover and Santos did suggest many good changes to the correctional system that could improve the life of both inmates and corrections officers. Both authors were able to give unique perspectives due to their unique experiences and help to build upon many ideas within the study of corrections and prisons.
The picture this book paints would no doubt bother corrections professionals in prisons where prisoner-staff relationships and officer solidarity are more developed. In training, Conover is told that "the most important thing you can learn here is to communicate with inmates." And the Sing Sing staff who enjoy the most success and fulfillment i...
...they want to be not only respected but also being able to survive in the prison environment. In prison, there are so many inmates and not two inmates are the same. The inmates will disrespect the officers by calling them names, giving officers difficult times, but it goes the other way around too. It is disturbing image after learning that sometimes it is the officer’s fault and not just the inmates’ wrongdoings. There will be times when officers and inmates will engage in a conspiracy crime and times when the female staff is engaged in sexual actions with an inmate. Conover wrote this book to allow the audience to see the prison society from many different point-of-views and give future officers an early insight to becoming a correctional officer.
In writing the book Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing, Conover undergoes a transformation as a correctional officer in order to expose the problems within our prison systems. The reader learns a lot about what is taking place in prisons right now and what it is like to be a guard, but in sum what one must foremost take into account is that this is not how prisons how they have to be. There are social, political, and economic realities that have constructed this system and in order to dispel them it is more beneficial to understand these factors rather than one man’s experience in a place of power at one prison.
The jobs of correctional officer are some times overlooked. Correctional officers are playing a huge role in society because they need to perform important tasks. A correctional officer’s job is not easy and can become very stressful at times. Correctional officers are required to enforce and keep order, supervise inmates, help counsel offenders, search inmate cells for contraband, and also report on inmate actions. Correctional officers need to contain power over the prisoners in order to enforce the rules of the prison, or else the prison will not function correctly. In the book, Conover says, “The essential relationship inside a prison is the one between a guard and an inmate…the guard, it is thought, wields all the power, but in truth the inmate has power too” (Conover, p. 207). In the book, the importance of power the prisoner’s hold can be seen through the sudden increase of prisoners, the Stanford Prison Experiment and through the contraband they make.
After reading the book I have gained a new understanding of what inmates think about in prison. Working in an institution, I have a certain cynical attitude at times with inmates and their requests. Working in a reception facility, this is a facility where inmates are brought in from the county jails to the state intake facility, we deal with a lot of requests and questions. At times, with the phone ringing off the hook from family members and inmates with their prison request forms, you get a little cynical and tired of answering the same questions over and over. As I read the book I begin to understand some of the reason for the questions. Inmate(s) now realize that the officers and administrative personnel are in control of their lives. They dictate with to get up in the morning, take showers, eat meals, go to classes, the need see people for different reason, when to exercise and when to go to bed. The lost of control over their lives is a new experience for some and they would like to be able to adjust to this new lost of freedom. Upon understanding this and in reading the book, I am not as cynical as I have been and try to be more patient in answering questions. So in a way I have changed some of my thinking and understanding more of prison life.
Many changes are made inside the justice system, but very few have damaged the integrity of the system and the futures of citizens and prisoners. Although the story seems to focus more on lockdown, Hopkins clearly identifies the damaging change from rehabilitation in prisons to a strategy of locking up and containing the prisoners. To the writer, and furthermore the reader, the adjustment represented a failure to value lives. “More than 600,000- about 3 times what it was when I entered prison, sixteen years ago. In the resulting expansion of the nation’s prison systems, authorities have tended to dispense with much of the rehabilitative programming once prevalent in America’s penal institutions” (Hopkins 157). The new blueprint to lock every offender in prison for extended sentencing leads to an influx in incarcerated people. With each new person
The correctional subculture is not described as extensively as the police subculture; however, many elements of misconduct and criminal activities are similar (Pollock, 2014). The parallelism of corruption between the police and correctional officer are as follows: (1) use of force; (2) acceptance of gratuities from inmates; (3) mistreatment/sexual coercion of inmates; and (4) abuse of authority for personal gains (Pollock, 2014). According to Pardue et al. (2011), there are two types of sexual coercion found within the prison subculture and they are as follows: (1) coercion between convicts; and (2) coercion between convicts and staff members (p. 289). The Department of Corrections is aware of staff sexual abuse and harassment of women prisoners, and they have been playing “catch up” to accommodate the challenges of this persisting problem (Clear et al., 2013, p.
Having the study formulated after a prison environment presents a disturbing view on the effects it has on the individuals living in these conditions. As the study demonstrated both groups take on an alternate persona based on the roles assigned to them and the level of authority given to each. Today the same effect can be seen outside the prison environment, businesses experience this phenomenon as well. Managers are figures of authority within company and based on the type of management they exude, subordinates experience at different points some level of dominance over them. The results of the study are extremely valuable especially for the corrections industry, in recent years’ prisons have employed medical professionals that help inmates with psychological traumas and are able to utilize different outlets such as classes and work related activities within the corrections facility as a means to eliminate the negative effects on its
The way correction officers are treated in prison is dreadful. “A corrections officer was seriously burned Monday morning in an attack by an inmate at the Green Bay Correctional Institution” (Roberts, 2016). This topic interest me because most of my life my brother has described the working conditions of correction officers in prison. I remember him telling me how one officer had his finger bitten off by an inmate. Correction officers are the guards who work in prison to enforce prisoners, so that inmates do not find themselves constantly in trouble. In addition, the officers ensure inmates’ safety. Despite the fact that the officers want to secure the inmate 's safety, people are unaware of the hardships officers face every day. A great deal of the rigorous challenges guards go through are never mentioned on the news or make it to newspapers. Correction officers are rarely mentioned within society, even though they are a huge part of the law enforcement. There is a
Cross-gender staffing can raise many concerns for the female inmate and the correctional staff. Female inmates have dynamic interactions with the correctional officers, this can result in the offenders having a close relationship with their superiors; however, the lines can become blurred (Griffiths & Murdoch, 2014).
Attorney General's Report to Congress on the Growth of Violent Street Gangs in Suburban Areas
The career of a correctional officer has always captivated me in a way that is difficult to explain. Even as a child, I recall tuning into shows such as Lockup and Lockdown. In fact, my earliest, most vivid memories consist of me sitting in front of a TV screen with my eyes mesmerized by the hardened criminals visioned on the screen before me. It may seem peculiar, but I’ve always pictured myself inside the prison walls. What’s even more peculiar is that I’ve seldom visioned myself as a correctional officer; in fact, I’ve almost always visioned myself as a prisoner.
The focus of this paper is to inform if the rates of violence are higher in male or in female prisons and why that is the case. Various key factors have been addressed in relation to this topic. These four factors would not only help in answering the research questions, but open opportunities for similar research to be conducted. This research paper will explore if violence is higher in male or female prisons and why is it high.
2nd ed. of the book. USA: Penguin Books, Ltd. [Accessed 01 January 2014]. The Prison Reform Trust.