In Alexandra Hall’s book, Border Watch: Cultures of Immigration, Detention and Control, Relationships are complex and ever changing within Locksdon Immigration Removal Centre (IRC) . Whether it be between guards, detainees, or guards and detainees, each relationship is complicated and differs between guards and their relations with each other, and the guards and the lack of bond between them and the detainees. It has a big effect on day to day life for everyone.
Officers amongst themselves have plenty of time to socialize with each other. Forming bonds, some bound by loyalty and experience, others fun and gossip. Relationships between guards are just as complex as relations between guards and detainees. The strongest bonds between guards
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A guard named Drew “had fallen out with an officer Frank (once a good friend) because Frank had ‘wimped out’ on him. He had invited Frank on a walking holiday with several ex-army friends, and Frank had given up on a tough day’s walking, insisting they turn back, embarrassing Drew. Frank had demonstrated several contemptible qualities: lack of perseverance, lack of loyalty (to Drew in front of his friends) and laziness” (65)⁴. This shows how important these attributes are to the relationships between guards, and if someone is slacking in one of these attributes, they could let others down on the job, risking lives. Without loyalty and perseverance they slack in their friendships made in IRC …show more content…
It shows who is loyal to who and makes the days more interesting. “Gossip constantly linked and divided people, exploring the limits of what was tolerable and desirable. It was a way of people testing loyalties and staking claims” (70)⁵. Gossip is used as a way of belonging. Someone being talking about knows that other know them, and that they have a reputation, either good or bad they are now connected to the other guards. A person that is gossiping about others can build bonds by talking about someone of common interest and become closer to others that way. Social bonds are important in a place like Locksdon because a guard needs to depend on others to have their back both as a friend and as a fellow guard on the job. It is important to know that they belong to something, and helps get them through their job
In the excerpt reading from Locking Up Our Own, the author, James Forman Jr., spoke about the issue our society has faced recently with mass incarceration of African-American males. He also talks about his own past experience with the situation through being a public defender. He had previously worked under Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, and decided that he wanted to defend low-income individuals who were charged with crimes in Washington, D.C. Forman detailed a few specific cases he had working with young, African-American males and retold his reactions to some of the convictions.
Conover begins his investigative journey as he goes through the training required to become a prison guard. The process that each potential guard has to graduate from highly resembles that of which the military uses. Perfectly made beds, matching uniforms, roll calls, shooting practice, and psychological tests are all engrained into the schedules of potential guards. When this realizations strikes the author he says, “It dawned on me that I had reported to boot camp.” The emphasis on uniformity and discipline clearly showed the correlation those who controlled prisons saw between the prisons and warzones. The rhetoric is nearly identical as well, as evidenced by the “sergeant” who states,” The gray uniforms are the god guys, and the green uniforms are ...
Gossip can be a form of either informal or conversational talk that is not usually planned but happens spontaneously in conversation (Tholander, 2003). Gossip is a distinct and unusual form of storytelling as it involves a non-present third person. In order for a story to be considered as gossip it must handle a past event of which the absent third party was involved in. It often occurs within friendships,
During the time period of 1936 through 1961 there was a change in the establishment of authority with a new personal dominance of Warden Joseph Ragen. The system that was imposed by Ragen had a goal of creating a stable social order at this penitentiary. However, Jacobs mentions that the absence of interference by outside forces enabled him to develop his authoritarian system of internal order. Seeking to achieve his goals for Stateville, Ragen demanded absolute personal loyalty and officers were given an “Officer Rule book”. In return it was set to establish loyalty of the employee to the warden, and the warden was also obliged to the employee. However, the biggest part of Ragens system was that of personal dominance. In addition to Ragen’s system the system was also based upon internal security so intense that the ultimate perimeter security would never need to be tested. He created a system of charismatic dominance within his time as a warden at Stateville. Once Ragen left the prison the problem of organizational succession
The primary function of the Border Patrol Agency is "Line Watch"(web), which involves the apprehension of terrorists, smugglers and illegal people at the border. The book ‘Border Patrol nation’ by Tod Miller is a classic example of the Border patrol agency day to day activities and work culture. Tod Miller has researched and written about US-Mexican border issues for last 15 years. The book contains eleven chapters, which are well structured and inter related in respect to the arguments, evident and stories. This makes the book well
Gilmartin begins by describing the typical rookie officer. Most are energetic, idealistic, enthusiastic and very driven. Quickly this enthusiasm can change from one of positivity to one that is very cynical and emotionally charged. These behaviors and thoughts over time if not corrected become exacerbated leading to noticeable mental and physical changes. The author, Gilmartin, uses personal experiences and other real life stories effectively so that many officers can relate and identify with the topic of the book.
Gossip has been known to hurt relationships, damage reputations, and cause other social harms. But can it have any social benefits? In the article “Studies Find That Gossip Isn’t Just Loose Talk”, Alina Tugend argues that certain gossip can have important social functions. She notes that certain gossip can provide people with information about people who might mistreat us. Tugend adds that people have overwhelming urge to gossip about people who they feel have wronged them. However, Tugend notes that some people feel that gossip has no social benefit. Thesis: I found it interesting when the article discusses how certain gossip can make people in a group follow rules and it can protect us from people.
Prison Guards, also acknowledged as correctional officers, are employees of the government and are responsible for the monitoring the inmates of a jail or prison. People see jails and prisons reenacted on the television, but the way they portray the facilities does not compare to how they are in real life. In television shows, it seems as if the building runs itself. The inmates stay inside the walls, and do whatever they feel like doing. This, however, is not how jails/prisons work. Having correctional officers is crucial for the upkeep of prisons and jails. One of a correctional officer’s main jobs is to validate that all of the inmates are safe and accounted for, and that the prison facilities are hygienic and under control.
At any given time, a single corrections officer, can expect to be outnumbered by upwards of 400 inmates (Conover, 2011). It can be chilling to work in the midst of hundreds of inmates, some of which initiate attacks and inappropriate relationships. However, other issues have impacted the psychological health and physical safety of the staff. Detrimental factors have included heavy workloads, the prisons physical structure, and a lack of support from both peers and superiors. Each workplace issue has been in addition to role problems, specifically role ambiguity and role conflict (Schaufeli & Peeters, 2011). It is believed that anyone of these undesirable facets of prison should be enough to deter the public from attempting to enter such positions, yet the essay attempts to connect the dysfunctional aspects, expanding on why these prison positions are associated with burnout and frustration. In an attempt to do the profession justice, elements that appear to have encouraged individuals to not only join, but also stay, will be explored.
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.
It is both a result and a cause of police isolation from the larger society and of police solidarity. Its influence begins early in the new officer’s career when he is told by more experienced officers that the “training given in police academies is irrelevant to ‘real’ police work”. What is relevant, recruits are told, is the experience of senior officers who know the ropes or know how to get around things. Recruits are often told by officers with considerable experience to forget what they learned in the academy and in college and to start learning real police work as soon as they get to their Field Training Officers. Among the first lessons learned are that police officers share secrets among themselves and that those secrets especially when they deal with activities that are questionable in terms of ethics, legality, and departmental policy, are not to be told to others. They also are told that administrators and Internal Affairs officers cannot often be trusted. This emphasis on the police occupational subculture results in many officers regarding themselves as members of a “blue
A various points throughout the night we came across other officers who were dealing with accidents and various other tasks. Unless there was a rush to respond to a call, Officer Crutchman would slow his cruiser down and check to see if his fellow officers required assistance. Furthermore, after assisting multiple officers from his unit in a potential trespass violation at a local school, instead of driving going about their separate ways the officers began swapping arrest stories and offering their opinions on the progression of the resulting criminal cases. Afterwards, between some hilarious joke telling, the talk moved to personal and professional concerns and issues; one officer had a badly fitting bullet-proof vest that was on loan. Officer Crutchman offered to give his extra armor to his fellow officer since they were around the same
Many different facets compose the makeup of a prison community. One of the main components of the prison culture is the correctional officer. The individuals that are responsible for the security at correctional facilities such as a prison are better known as CO’s or correctional officers. Typically, the higher the security levels of the prison, the lower the ratio of inmates to correctional officers. “State averages of inmates to COs range from about 3.5 to 1 up to 8 to 1 (with national averages of 5.4 to 1 in 2000), but these numbers have to be taken with a grain of salt” (Foster, 2006, p.164). With the aforementioned disparity with the number of COs to inmates naturally safety concerns arise when it comes to keeping both COs and inmates working and living in a safe environment.
The United States Army consists of three distinct components, the Regular Army, National Guard and Army reserve. Each part plays an integral role in providing support towards accomplishing the mission of the Army, to win at ground combat. However, after well over a decade of war, draw downs and build ups, Army survey data show mutual trust and cohesion between the Soldiers and Department of the Army (DA) Civilians within total force is insufficient. This lack of trust has had a degrading effect on readiness. Findings in the Brockerhoff, Licameli and Toffler’s (2015) report on the Center for the Army Profession and Ethic (CAPE) Annual survey of the Army Profession for Fiscal Year 2015 (CASAP FY15) show, coaching, counseling, mentoring and