Wearing A Male Inmate's Sneakers Summary

The first case to discuss is the case where a correctional officer was fired for wearing a male inmate’s sneakers, and other inappropriate behavior. This incident happened at the Lackawanna County Prison. Besides wearing an inmate’s shoes former Correctional Officer Tammy Miller also was making regular weekly visits with a female inmate while on duty and allegedly bought an inmate a bag of commissary items that was against the correctional facilities policy. The warden made a written statement saying that Miller violated 20 employee policies. The ethical implications of Millers inappropriate and unethical behavior were that she compromised her own integrity and the integrity of the entire staff. I really can’t determine the reason

why Miller chose to behave unethical, but if I had to choose a reason, I would say that with the male inmate she probably had some kind of flirtatious relationship going on and with the female inmate she had to be taking bribes or money. I think that her behavior affected the correctional system in that when a new correctional officer is hired in her place the inmates will think that they can bribe or sweet talk the officer into compromising their integrity too. (Schillinger, 2010)
The second case is about a correctional officer who was fired after having inappropriate contact with a female inmate.

Rock County Sheriff Bob Spoden fired 27 year-old John K. Housinga a former probationary corrections officer after an internal investigation uncovered an inappropriate relationship between him and the inmate. Any kind of sexual contact between officers and inmates regardless of consent is against the law. The ethical implication of Housinga’s behaviors is that he was expected to be professional in all his actions. Prison and jail is for to help rehabilitate inmates to become law abiding citizens, but this can’t be achieved if correctional officers behave unlawfully themselves. I think that the officer partook in this behavior possibly as a way to blackmail the inmate or because they were in a relationship with each other. The officer’s behavior can affect the corrections system in that the environment for the inmate and for the staff is not safe anymore. It is important to prioritize the best interest of inmates, since they might not be able to advocate for themselves. (Dupre’,

2008)
The last case was about a 28-year-old Bradford County Jail employee, Sgt. Tammie Sapp who was fired for unlawful compensation or reward for official behavior. She received personal gifts from a company the jail bought their cleaning supplies from. The implications of her taking gifts is that it look suspiciously like she was extorting cleaning products from the jail (just like stealing money). Plus Sapp admitted that she knew that receiving the gifts and company incentives were unethical, but she felt that since they were small gifts they wouldn’t hurt. This put her the jail in a bad light because she was expected to uphold a personal standard of behavior because she supposed to be representing the law. (News4Jax.com, 2003)
In conclusion, all parts of the corrections system, officers and staff need to perform their jobs with integrity.

Just issuing out policies and rules don’t help, there needs to be “an ethical orientation and belief in the value of integrity and it must be central to the culture of the organization. The only correctional organizations that succeed are value-based. The Correctional system is not a value neutral enterprise. They have to have values and speak openly and often about them” (Martin, 2001). “Professional ethics or a conflict with professional ethics becomes an issue when the relationship between a correctional officer and an inmate becomes personal. The close proximity of officer and inmate over a period of time, as well as shared feelings about the facility's administrators, can at times bring the officer and inmate too close. When officers feel they have more in common with the inmates than with their administrators, unethical conduct becomes noticeable. On the other hand, when officers contribute to inhumane and destructive environments for inmates, they are also being unethical. Ethical behavior by correctional officers requires that they do not violate an inmate's constitutional rights, that inmates and other staff not be treated only as means to a selfish end, that actions not violate a law, that actions not produce more harmful than beneficial effects for those involved, and that actions not violate departmental procedure or a professional ethical

rule” (Muraskin, 2001).