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

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’,

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