Research Paper

CORRECTIONAL OFFICER DEVIANCE RESEARCH OUTLINE 1

CORRECTIONAL OFFICER DEVIANCE RESEARCH OUTLINE 3

Correctional Officer Deviance Research Outline

Bryan Reitsma

Columbia Southern University

Introduction

Thesis: deviance behaviors among correctional officers take different shapes and forms and the reality is that they have a negative effect on the institution, prisoners, and the officer. Deviance against inmates is the most dominant form of correctional officer deviance

1. Abuse of authority

a. Destroying prisoners properties

b. Unjustly transferring prisoners to different correctional facilities

c. Confiscating inmates properties unjustly

2. Discriminating towards inmates

a. Treating some in a special way and others maltreated based along tribal or ethnic lines

b. Allowing some privileges like watching sports and television while denying others

c. Being unfair while delegating tasks

3. Sexual relations and assault

a. Hundreds of correctional officers have been charged or fired for sexual assault or abuse

b. Sexual assaults taking place among inmates at the watch of correctional officer

c. A lot of sexual assault reported cases are not attended to by correctional officers

4. Use of excessive force

a. Physically abusing inmates through illegal beatings

b. Psychologically torturing the prisoner for instance overturning the bed at night while asleep or pushing the prisoner to the ground

c. Unnecessary strip search

References

Lambert, E. G., Worley, R., & Worley, V. B. (2018). The effects of perceptions of staff–inmate boundary violations and willingness to follow rules upon work stress. Security Journal, 31(2), 618-644.

Ross, J. I. (2016). Key issues in corrections (2nd ed.). Policy Press. 

Schultz, W. J., Bucerius, S. M., & Haggerty, K. D. (2020). The Floating Signifier of “Radicalization”: Correctional Officers’ Perceptions of Prison Radicalization. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 0093854820969749.

Stevens, A. (2020). Access denied: Research on sex in prison and the subjugation of ‘deviant knowledge’. Criminology & Criminal Justice, 20(4), 451-470.