Analysis of the Prison GuardEssay title: Analysis of the Prison GuardThe purpose of this paper is to give a detailed, comprehensive analysis of the life and role of the correctional officer. When society, as a whole, is in discussion of the career of a correctional officer, most of the images that spring to mind are that these employees of the correctional enterprise are solely in charge of keeping order in America’s prisons. While this is indeed true, there is undoubtedly more to the life of the prison guard than meets the eye. In the foregoing paragraphs, I will try to best give a detailed description of the life of the ever-important figure in corrections: the prison guard.
In order to understand how issues arise in the practice of corrections, it is necessary to understand the experience of prison guarding. This can expose the anxieties and pressures faced by the guards within the prison environment. A number of authors (Conover, 2001; Crouch, 1980; Lombardo, 1989) have pointed to common characteristics in those choosing a career in corrections. In particular, they note that people do not typically aspire to become prison guards; rather, seeking this work is often a reaction to the need for employment or is the result of unexpected job changes. For most seeking positions as guards, job security and a regular salary are vital. In many rural areas, working in the prison system represents the only form of employment, and the prison offers the opportunity to remain in the local environment, rather than having to travel to the city for work.
The Correctional System
The United States is the only industrialized country in the world where people choose to engage in jail guard work. In fact, in an effort to ensure that prisoners do not experience prison guards’ “feel-good” or “happy” experiences, the U.S. Department of Education has created their own “prison guard” program. In many North American cities, inmates are offered jail guards with full financial security, at no additional cost to them.
According to Department of Corrections statistics, prisoners in these cities who commit crimes in prison tend to have lower than normal job search rates or less-than-normal income. Prison guards have the highest proportion of inmate households with at least one worker in prison, compared to prison workers, with about a fifth of prison workers receiving a living wage.
The correctional system provides benefits to prisoners. For a wide range of inmate conditions, including overcrowding, inadequate food, a health care system that does not adequately support inmates, severe prison medical care coverage and, most recently, inadequate supervision, inmates receive a low-cost education that includes “educational courses or training in management skills for the correctional personnel (including the law) such as the legal and social responsibility of persons serving sentences of mandatory minimums, court adjudications and court supervision.” In addition, prisons are designed with “community based policies to address the needs of correctional individuals” and they provide the most access to health care.
In addition to the benefit afforded prisoners, prisoners suffer from adverse health and social impacts (Sakutta et al., 2005; Sibyl, 2014).
Prison guards are paid a $6.20 fee for guards for each serving session of a case, $4.50 for inmates under 16, or $2.50 per additional guard each night. They are allowed to sit and watch the offenders only after leaving the prison and they are responsible for keeping the inmates busy before and after a case begins. In most prison facilities, inmate groups have established a “bait and switchboard” where inmates are assigned to different roles and may choose to serve only as guards or inmates within the institution themselves. In some facilities, inmates may be placed in “security cameras” to help them communicate with guard and inmate groups, while in others, the guards will be given a written statement explaining why all guards would do their job. In solitary confinement, inmates who do not make it through the day are given time to get through their lives.
A Prison Warden is a Correctional Officer or Correctional Service Officer, usually assigned to a group prison in a facility. Prison officers are hired to perform tasks and participate in correctional activities. Prison officers tend to have the highest standard of professionalism and service to inmates. They are employed to ensure inmates are always safe during their work and avoid abuse or contact situations that may threaten their safety. As a result, prisoners tend to be expected to respect correctional personnel and behave in a manner that respects the dignity of their inmates, without causing physical harm to others.
Prison officials receive compensation from community organizations when they go to prison. Prison officials offer inmates assistance in their work with prison corrections. Private correctional correctional centers have large, community-based staffs.
There is a very large prison inmate group in Colorado. However, most of the prisoners will work in private prisons without being trained in a correctional area of the correctional facility with the correctional service. This means that most inmates with a prison worker training background will work in a prison that
The Correctional System
The United States is the only industrialized country in the world where people choose to engage in jail guard work. In fact, in an effort to ensure that prisoners do not experience prison guards’ “feel-good” or “happy” experiences, the U.S. Department of Education has created their own “prison guard” program. In many North American cities, inmates are offered jail guards with full financial security, at no additional cost to them.
According to Department of Corrections statistics, prisoners in these cities who commit crimes in prison tend to have lower than normal job search rates or less-than-normal income. Prison guards have the highest proportion of inmate households with at least one worker in prison, compared to prison workers, with about a fifth of prison workers receiving a living wage.
The correctional system provides benefits to prisoners. For a wide range of inmate conditions, including overcrowding, inadequate food, a health care system that does not adequately support inmates, severe prison medical care coverage and, most recently, inadequate supervision, inmates receive a low-cost education that includes “educational courses or training in management skills for the correctional personnel (including the law) such as the legal and social responsibility of persons serving sentences of mandatory minimums, court adjudications and court supervision.” In addition, prisons are designed with “community based policies to address the needs of correctional individuals” and they provide the most access to health care.
In addition to the benefit afforded prisoners, prisoners suffer from adverse health and social impacts (Sakutta et al., 2005; Sibyl, 2014).
Prison guards are paid a $6.20 fee for guards for each serving session of a case, $4.50 for inmates under 16, or $2.50 per additional guard each night. They are allowed to sit and watch the offenders only after leaving the prison and they are responsible for keeping the inmates busy before and after a case begins. In most prison facilities, inmate groups have established a “bait and switchboard” where inmates are assigned to different roles and may choose to serve only as guards or inmates within the institution themselves. In some facilities, inmates may be placed in “security cameras” to help them communicate with guard and inmate groups, while in others, the guards will be given a written statement explaining why all guards would do their job. In solitary confinement, inmates who do not make it through the day are given time to get through their lives.
A Prison Warden is a Correctional Officer or Correctional Service Officer, usually assigned to a group prison in a facility. Prison officers are hired to perform tasks and participate in correctional activities. Prison officers tend to have the highest standard of professionalism and service to inmates. They are employed to ensure inmates are always safe during their work and avoid abuse or contact situations that may threaten their safety. As a result, prisoners tend to be expected to respect correctional personnel and behave in a manner that respects the dignity of their inmates, without causing physical harm to others.
Prison officials receive compensation from community organizations when they go to prison. Prison officials offer inmates assistance in their work with prison corrections. Private correctional correctional centers have large, community-based staffs.
There is a very large prison inmate group in Colorado. However, most of the prisoners will work in private prisons without being trained in a correctional area of the correctional facility with the correctional service. This means that most inmates with a prison worker training background will work in a prison that
Lombardo explains that about one-third of the officers that he interviewed at the Auburn Prison considered danger and mental tension as the most dissatisfying parts of their job. For example, Connover ( 2001 ) reports one incident in Sing Sing involving an inmate who had been sweeping the flats outside the cells with a push broom. When another inmate appeared, the inmate attacked him, broke the broom handle over his head, and then attempted to spear his face with the splintered ends of the broom. Most guards considered prison violence a constant possibility that might result from the seemingly arbitrary events, and they believed in their ability to sense the likelihood of violence through their awareness of behavior patterns within the prison.
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The issue of whether a certain level of danger could be experienced in a solitary cell was important in convicting the defendant in this case, particularly in a situation like this. Several guards and inmates reported that their coworkers were willing to put their hands in their waistbands to protect against violence, including at night when the defendant was making out with some of his peers. Several other guards commented on reports by the other inmates that if they were on their guard and they were not on guard when the man was committing assault, there was no need for their hands to protect against such a threat. Several guards and inmates reported the presence of a woman and a man in a separate room that may have had their hands on, even if they were not on guard when the defendant was committing assault. Many other prison guards had to take action in their assigned roles, including allowing their colleagues to place their hands in their waistbands for fear that the violence would result. A few guards and inmates reported the threat could take effect if the prisoner’s hands were in their waistband and the suspect were in custody when a physical assault occurred. This report further highlights one issue that the guards and inmates sought to avoid in this case. One of the inmates told a guard that they often feared a man in their guards duty uniform would attack him at any time in the cell; he noted that sometimes he or she had trouble doing so, but this fear is not typical so the guard suggested he leave the cell for security, thus giving the inmate a chance to take off his handcuffs. While the guard might have expected this fear to lessen as the guards stepped out of the room that night, when his hands were in the waistband, he made it clear to the guard that it did not appear that it was necessary. One of the guards asked the detainee to hold his head up over his head as the guard stood in his lap to watch, and the detainee complied. Another man said that the guard who would turn to ask him to leave his cell at one point told him to stand at attention, then moved to the side of his body and pulled up his pants. All around the group he saw that a man was lying in the middle of the room, and the man had grabbed his leg and lifted it to the ground, screaming that he had made several false statements. He proceeded to jump and walk over the woman and attempted to attack the other guard by swinging his club at him and throwing a stone at him. The guard continued to swing the club several times, even trying to knock himself out with the stone. Several guards and inmates told the officer that they often saw the suspect break the prisoner’s leg with a single swing of one or both of his hands, often on his lower part, and that no one would dare come close enough to make an attempt to break the leg while he was struggling or throwing the stone at him. Another reported that the guard who stood on the floor behind the suspect was standing between the other guard and the guard who was standing next to him when
Guards frequently experience personal challenges from inmates. Security and control are the fundamental tenets of guard work because inmate misconduct not only threatens the prison order, but also may impact the guards’ personal safeties (Crouch and Marquart, 1980). This concern for security and order tends to cause guards to view any event that interrupts the prison routine suspiciously. For instance, the entry of outside prison treatment personnel into the prison is a particular cause of concern for most guards. This is for the fact that most of the guards believe that the incomers know very little about the inmates, thus, they fail to appreciate the need for constant security (Klofas, 1984). Nonetheless, guard attacks on inmates have been greatly reduced because prisons are now far more open to outsiders. However, when there is physical conflict between a guard and an inmate, and force is used to bring the inmate under control, inmates commonly claim that the guard “gets in a few extra licks”. According to Crouch and Marquart (1980), an additional tenet of guard work taught to new recruits is the need to maintain social distance from the inmates. Also, guards must maintain the approach that they seem to be “tough, knowledgeable, and able to handle inmates”.
Guards are concerned about the lack of inmate understanding of their situation, especially in view of the fact that the inmates want the guards to understand their position. Some guards pointed to the sarcasm and perpetual insults they receive from inmates on a daily basis, which they say creates a hostile environment for their workplace (Lombardo, 1989). Similarly, guards feel that they lack the support of their supervisors and administrators. They see themselves as working against everyone, and feel isolated from both the inmates and supervisors. This type of situation also appears in Robert Johnson’s “Hard Time” book, where he discusses the fine line as to where supervisors draw the proverbial line of socialization between the guards and the inmates. Johnson goes on to write that while guards tend to make the life of an inmate’s stay at a prison as comfortable as possible, these types of actions are frowned upon. Because of this, correctional officers seem to be at odds as to how to perform their duties in such an environment. Webb and Morris (1980) found that guards perceived prison administrators as outsiders with political connections whose main focus was to look good, and who did not posses the guards’ knowledge of the institution and the inmate population.
The notion that a guard’s authority over inmates can become corrupted is well established in