Women In Corrections

From incarceration to working in correctional institutions, women obtain unusual characteristics in corrections. This paper gives information about the history of female correctional officers, females earning the same respect as the male officers, averting violent incidents, and managing their home and work life of a woman working in correctional institutions. The history gives a brief description of how they let female officers work in male’s institutions. Female officers earning the same respect address the struggles and obstacles women face. The averting violent incidents involve the negative and harassment, female officers receive during their shift. Managing home and work describes how they take their job outside of their work. This

She became the warden from 1793-1796 at the Walnut Street Jail located in Philadelphia. Weed filled this position after the death of her husband, who worked as the previous warden at the Walnut Street Jail (Matthews, 2010). In 1977, the United States Supreme Court eliminated weight and height requirements for females in the Dothard v. Rawlinson case which let females obtain contact positions in men’s institutions. The very first state to hire female corrections officers to work in an all-male institution was California. More states started following California’s decision, and by 1978, thirty-three states hired female officers to work in their all male institutions. In the correctional field, women’s role was limited: even during the Reform Movement, which lasted from the late nineteenth century until the early twentieth century. Women correctional officers were only allowed to work in an all-female facility. Today, as corrections have developed, it has become a more diverse

We are raised in a society that sees female as a weaker, fragile, more gentle sex. So, when a female walks into a male institution, she is faced with that stigma immediately. A lot of the male offenders see the females as someone they can sweet talk, blackmail, and threaten women into doing anything they want. Some of these men are doing life in prison, and the guards are the closest thing to a female they will ever be around again. That means, these criminals have nothing but time to sit around and watch, study, and learn the habits, and feelings of the female guards. They learn to read when female officers are having a bad day, and can be that “lending ear.” Before the female officer knows what happened, there is an emotional connection, and the male offender has the female smuggling drugs, cell phones, money, and other contraband into the institutions for them. When women walk into their work place, they feel the stigma as well. Some women feel that they need to be stricter and stern to show they are not a push over. Being consistent and stern is good, but when they overstep their boundaries in an attempt to conquer the stigma, the inmates can react harshly to actions. In society, we in general, are taught not to disrespect females, and any man that puts a hand on a female is disgrace. This can hinder the thinking of the officer in two ways. The first way is that they can