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. There …show more content…
Helping people is also something I enjoy. To me, correctional officers not only take charge over the inmates, but also help them. Arranging counseling meetings, making sure they get where they need to be, and making sure that they have all of their necessities are just a few ways that the officers help make their stay as laid-back as possible. In movies and television shows, prison guards are portrayed as nasty and offensive to the inmates, but that is not permitted in reality. Correctional officers still respect and care for the inmates. Becoming a correctional treatment specialist also appealed to me. According to an article by Kristen Mallegg, “correctional treatment specialists who also may be known as case managers or correctional counselors, counsel offenders and develop rehabilitation plans for them to follow when they are no longer and prison or on parole.” (Mallegg 88) She adds, “They may evaluate inmates using questionnaires and psychological tests. They also work with inmates, probation officers, and staff of other agencies to develop parole and release plans.” (Mallegg 88) This kind of work interests me because I enjoy helping others develop plans of action and giving
There are seven different types of correctional job assignments based on the location in the facility, job description, and the type of contact with inmates (Schmalleger & Smykla, 2015). These correctional assignments are block officers, work detail supervisors, industrial shop and school officers, yard officers, administrative officers, perimeter security officers, and relief officers (Schmalleger & Smykla, 2015).
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...
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
When people think of reform movements, they often look for one key sign, and ask one key question of whether that the reform was a success. Did the reform create a lasting change in the way people view the institution that was reformed? All the great reformation movements, from Horace Mann and his education reforms, to Martin Luther, and the Protestant Reformation, to the civil rights movement, all created lasting change in the minds of the average person. One other reform, often overlooked historically is the Prison Reform movement. As the world shifted from 18th to 19th century ways of life, many key aspects of life underwent tremendous change. As the United States gained their independence from Britain and began to shape their own identity, the reforms and revolutions that occurred in this infantile stage of its history played an immeasurable impact on the future of the entire country, with the most notable and impact reform being the reformation of prisons from the 1820s until 1860.
The number of Americans that are in prison has elevated to levels that have never been seen before. Prisons in the US have always been crowded ever since the first prison was invented (Jacobs and Angelos 101). The first prison in the US was the Walnut Street Jail that was built in Philadelphia in 1773, and later closed in the 1830’s due to overcrowding and dirty conditions (Jacobs and Angelos 101). The prison system in modern US history has faced many downfalls due to prison overcrowding. Many private prison owners argue that the more inmates in a prison the more money they could make. In my opinion the argument of making more money from inmates in prisons is completely unconstitutional. If the private prisons are only interested in making
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)
Not only is prison ineffective in preventing reoffending in women and is expensive, it can be extremely damaging to the female’s well-being and their families. The effect that a custodial sentence has on women is arguably far worse than for men. Women are often not prepared or equipped for their life following their prison sentence; due to the fact that women are more likely to be lone parents before prison (Social Exclusion Unit, 2002), are more likely to leave prison homeless and unemployed (Wedderburn, 2000), and are more likely to lose access of their children whilst serving their sentence (Corston, 2007). Statistics from 2010 showed that around 17,000 children become separated from their mother by imprisonment (Wilks-Wiffen, 2011). This can be absolutely devastating to not only the female offender, but to their innocent children too. Moreover, due to the small number of women’s prisons, the average distance that women are sent away from their homes is around 60 miles (Women in Prison, 2013). Therefore, even if the women are lucky enough to keep in contact with their children, it can be tremendously hard to organise visitation and uphold
Solitary confinement is a penal tactic used on inmates who pose a threat to themselves or other inmates. Solitary confinement is type of segregated prison in which prisoners are held in their cell for 22-24 hours every day. If they are allowed to leave their cell, they will silently walk shackled and in between two guards. They can only leave for showers or exercise. Their exercise and shower are always done alone and inside. They can exercise in fenced in yards surrounded by concrete. Solitary confinement is either used as a punishment for prison behaviors, a protection method for targeted inmates, or a place to keep prisoners who are a threat to the general prison population. Many prisoners are put in Administrative Segregation for their protection. Many prisoners in this type of segregation are teenagers, homosexuals, and mentally ill prisoners. Many mentally ill prisoners are sent to solitary confinement because there are not rehabilitation services available, and prison officials have run out of options (Shalev, 2008, p [1-2]). Solitary confinement is a convenient method for prison systems, but the detrimental effects on inmates make it an unsuitable option for inmate control.
The two main types of incarceration include short-term, which is used for minor crimes and offenses, and long-term incarceration which are major crimes that involve major rehabilitation. Short-term incarceration is exactly how it sounds, it is a form of confinement that lasts for only a short period of time. It is reserved for the minor crimes that are committed in order to give the correct punishment to the guilty offender. These short-term incarceration places house current and future inmates. The short-term punishments include the obvious such as more jail time, but it could also mean other forms of punishment such as house arrest, parole, work release programs, rehab, and also probation. These punishments are meant to confine the offender
Even though prisons have such a hard effect on correctional officers some may argue that they should not be complaining about their job. Correctional officers chose their job so they cannot complain about the conditions they endure. Some correctional officers join prisons to be correctional officers so they can get their bottled up anger out and let it out on the prisoners. Correctional officers like this are creating a harsh environment for the prisoners for no reason. Prisoners already have to deal with overcrowding problems and terrible food so if correctional officers lash out on them and beat them up it creates more of a harsh environment. This can affect prisoners psychological wellbeing more than correctional officers since they have to be in prison 24/7. Correctional officers are not properly trained therefore they are not entirely ready to deal with prisoners and the environment of the prison. This can create a worse environment for the prisoners because they will not know how to handle the prisoners
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.
The overall goal of correctional facilities can be broken down into three main functions which are retribution, deterrence, and rehabilitation of the inmates. Today, there is much debate on rather private or public prison admiration is best to suit those goals. In a private prison the inmates are contracted out to a third party from either local, state, or federal government agencies (Smith 2012). Public prisons are where the government themselves house and supply the inmate’s basic needs with no third party involved. However, a large portion of the argument of private verses public prisons is over, which is best in achieving those goals more efficiently.
As we know, the United States holds the most prisoners in the world. California is one of the states that has highest rates of prison population in the nation. The number of prisoners have been rapidly increasing and is leading to overcrowded prisons. The California Department Corrections and Rehabilitation, or CDCR, needs to work on the expansion of prison systems as a means to deal with the overcrowding problem. According to an article by Adam Liptak, “the case of Brown v. Plata [in 2011] that violate the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment…” it forced California to reduce crowding in its own institutions. As a result, California Governor Jerry Brown decided to contract private prison. He signed
I thought this was great advice and it made a lot of sense because you don’t want to take that type of environment back to your house. The biggest skill set that the staff had would be their communication skills and how they interacted with inmates. In all of the criminal justice related jobs communication is the biggest skill set someone needs to have because there is constant human interaction and if you can’t develop that skill set then it will be tough to maintain control. Seeing the CCOs communicate with inmates helped me learn better on how to communicate with offenders, especially explaining to them that they can’t do something. I learned how to explain to them they can’t do certain things and firmly stand my ground when inmates keep asking to do a certain
Prisons serve the same reason for women and men, they are also tools of social control. The imprisonment of women in the U.S. has always been a different experience then what men go through. The proportion of women in prison has always differed from that of men by a large amount. Women have traditionally been sent to prison for different reasons, and once in prison they endure different conditions of incarceration. Women incarcerated tend to need different needs for physical and mental health issues. When a mother is incarcerated it tends to play an impact on the children also. Over time the prison system has created different gender responsive programs to help with the different needs of female offenders. After being released from prison