Beijersbergen, K. A., Dirkzwager, A. J. E., Molleman, T., Van der Laan, P. H., & Nieuwbeerta, P. (2015). Procedural justice in prison: The importance of staff characteristics. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 59(4), 337-358. DOI: 10.1177/0306624X13512767 The authors studied prisoners in the Netherlands to ascertain whether correctional facility officers’ characteristics affected the prisoners’ perception of treatment while imprisoned. The theories are based on the belief that the treatment of inmates can affect their conduct, stressors and even behavior after prison. It has also been shown that in a correctional facility, the prisoners’ perceived treatment as being just and fair can assist in the management …show more content…
Officer demographics studied included gender, race, tenure and education. Studies showed no significant correlation between job satisfaction and employee demographics, but tenure and African American officers showed the most positive correlations to job satisfaction. Job task characteristics were shown to have greater influence on job satisfaction than officer demographics. The studies showed that when the variety of work and autonomy increases, so does an employee’s job satisfaction. The job role strain of being uncomfortable performing a task showed a negative effect on job satisfaction. Organizational characteristics studied were organization size, degree of supervisor feedback, and bonds between co-workers. The larger the organization, the more job satisfaction an officer reported potentially due to increased pay and benefits, opportunities for advancement and education or better working conditions in general. Positive correlations between the degree of supervisor feedback and job satisfaction were found, as well as bonds between co-workers. The author states that the many negative conditions inherent in law enforcement work can affect officer morale and therefore contribute to a department’s productivity, turnover and absenteeism rates. The studies found that the organizational environment, more than officer demographics were more indicative of job satisfaction. This suggests that an organization can be modified to promote job
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...
Every civilization in history has had rules, and citizens who break them. To this day governments struggle to figure out the best way to deal with their criminals in ways that help both society and those that commit the crimes. Imprisonment has historically been the popular solution. However, there are many instances in which people are sent to prison that would be better served for community service, rehab, or some other form of punishment. Prison affects more than just the prisoner; the families, friends, employers, and communities of the incarcerated also pay a price. Prison as a punishment has its pros and cons; although it may be necessary for some, it can be harmful for those who would be better suited for alternative means of punishment.
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.
Being a prisoner has more restrictions than one may believe. Prisoners are told when they should participate in daily activities and what they are allowed to say or do on a daily basis. This is not a life anyone is determined to experience during any period of time. However, all though for most prison life is just a depiction in a movie or on television, it is a reality for many. Their crimes and behaviors brought them into a world of being stripped of their freedom. Those who oversee the prisoners must control order within the brick walls. An article discussing the duties of a prison officer, defines it as one who “...has responsibility for the security, supervision, training and rehabilitation of people committed to prison by the courts”
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
There are two different kinds of influences on prison misconduct, there is the combined characteristics of the inmates themselves, and the combined characteristics of the staff in control of them (Camp, Gaes, Langan, Saylor (2003). Prison misconduct has been classified into significant fields related to drug use, violence, property offenses, prison accountability and escapes, security-related offenses, security offenses interfering with daily operations, along with a residual category (Camp, Gaes, Langan, Saylor (2003). Misconduct spoils the effective procedure of the correctional institution, detracting from its capability to present the intentional services to the superior society (Goetting & Howsen (1986).
The “pains of imprisonment” can be divided into five main conditions that attack the inmate’s personality and his feeling of self-worth. The deprivations are as follows: The deprivation of liberty, of goods and services, of heterosexual relationships, autonomy and of security.
When we talk about the correctional system we are talking about it as a whole. This includes jails, prisons, the inmates, and employees. Whether we agree or disagree with our own personal thoughts most of us haven’t seen it at first hand like the interviewee I had interviewed. My interviewee, was the Lieutenant for the Jefferson Country detention center. Now this is different than a prison, in the sense of length of stay, but the similarities are endless. According to the textbook Corrections an Introduction “one way in which jails and prisons are extremely similar is the importance of professional staff.” (Seiter, 2005)
In dealing with Prison Procedure, I feel that many things are put into perspective all the way from intake to the release of an inmate back into the community or until they have served their sentence and their time is up. Everything in a prison must be on close watch. The workers should be watched just as well as the inmates. All the prisons procedures should be followed under a very strict manner to ensure that the prison functions properly and effectively.
The number of individuals that are incarcerated in the United States on a daily basis has surpassed 2.2 million (Gibbons & Katzenbach, 2011). Annually, 13.5 million people at some point and time spend time in prison or jail with approximately 95 percent of them ultimately returning to society (Gibbons et al., 2011). Taking the aforementioned statement into considerations the author believes that it is safe to say that what goes on behind prison walls effects all members of society. When correctional facilities are unsafe, unhealthy, unproductive, or inhumane it affects both the people who work in them as well as the people that are living there at some point and time.
In Western cultures imprisonment is the universal method of punishing criminals (Chapman 571). According to criminologists locking up criminals may not even be an effective form of punishment. First, the prison sentences do not serve as an example to deter future criminals, which is indicated, in the increased rates of criminal behavior over the years. Secondly, prisons may protect the average citizen from crimes but the violence is then diverted to prison workers and other inmates. Finally, inmates are locked together which impedes their rehabilitation and exposes them too more criminal
Rights of Prisoners While lawful incarceration deprives prisoners of most of America's Constitutional rights, they do maintain a few constitutional rights. Federal courts, while hesitant to impede the internal administration of prisons, will interfere to rectify violations of the constitutional rights that prisoners are still entitled to. A prison guideline that oversteps a prisoner’s constitutional rights is lawful only if it is reasonably related to the safety of the inmates or the rehabilitation of that prisoner. The Supreme Court has acknowledged four significant factors in determining the rationality of a prison guideline. Courts should contemplate whether there is a lawful, sensible association between the guideline and the reasonable interest advanced to justify it, whether different means for exercising the proclaimed right continue to exist, whether accommodation of the proclaimed right will unfavorably disturb guards, other inmates, and distribution of prison properties generally, and whether there is a noticeable substitute to the guideline that fully accommodated the prisoner’s right that would not cause a problem to the prison, guards or other inmates, as well as hinder the offenders rehabilitation process.
Prisons exist in this country as a means to administer retributive justice for those that break the laws in our society or to state it simply prisons punish criminals that are to receive a sentence of incarceration for more than one year. There are two main sub-cultures within the walls of prison the sub-culture of the Department of Corrections (which consists of the corrections officer, administrators, and all of the staff that work at the prison and go home at the end of their day) and the actual prisoners themselves. As you can imagine these two sub-cultures are dualistic in nature and this makes for a very stressful environment for both sides of the fence. While in prison, the inmates experience the same conditions as described in the previous
Guard-to-inmate or inmate-to-inmate abuse reports flock to callous heads of securities in many prisons, and then remain untouched due to the fact that prisoners are seen as lesser beings. These accounts directly violate the basic human rights people are allowed.
It is just as difficult to prevent those who commit misdeeds in prison as it is to prevent that person from committing the crime, this is why tougher punishment is of high importance. Focusing on reform will not deter an inmate from misbehaving within or outside of prison. A unpleasant punishment however, will turn away a criminal from his misbehaviors while incarcerated and with the enduring impression of prison life outside of the cell walls. Although this article fails to address those circumstances that an inmate will need solitary confinement, it does prevail in bringing light to those few who are mistreated in prison facilities. The article those who are mistreated on the other hand are sparse and should be treated differently from those who are stable and