Imagine You Are A Correctional Officer
yanci83
DB9.pdf
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Chapter 9 The Staff World:
Managing the Prison
Population
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Learning Objectives
q List the staff roles within the organizational hierarchy of correctional institutions
q Identify the types of power available to correctional officers and list and describe the most common correctional officer personality types
q List and describe the seven correctional officer job assignments
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Learning Objectives
q Identify five significant correctional staff issues
q Detail the nature of workplace corruption among correctional personnel and explain its causes
q Explain the impact that terrorism is having on prisons and on the operation of correctional institutions today
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Staff Hierarchy
q Roles: Normal patterns of behavior expected of those holding particular social positions
q Staff Roles: Patterns of behavior expected of correctional staff members in particular jobs
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Goals of Correctional Staff Members
q Provide for the security of the community q Promote the smooth and effective functioning of the institution
q Ensure that incarceration is secure but humane
q Give inmates the opportunity to gain skills required to develop a positive lifestyle
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Staff Hierarchy
• Operate the ins-tu-on and its programs and set policies Administra-ve staff
Clerical personnel
• Encourage prisoners to par-cipate in educa-onal, voca-onal, and treatment programs
Program staff
• Most directly involved in managing the inmate popula-on Custodial staff
Service and maintenance staff
Volunteers
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Correctional Officers’ Power Bases
q Legitimate power q Derived by the virtue of position in the organization
q Coercive power q Based on the inmates’ belief that COs can and will punish disobedience
q Reward power q COs’ ability to dispense both formal and informal rewards
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Correctional Officers’ Power Bases
q Gain time: Time taken off an inmate’s sentence for participating in certain activities
q Expert power q Based on inmates’ perception that certain COs have valuable skills
q Referent power q Based on the inmates’ respect for a particular fair and non-abusive CO
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Staff Subculture
q Beliefs, values, and behavior of staff q Greatly differs from inmate subculture q Structured conflict: Tensions between prison staff members and inmates that arise out of the correctional setting
q Subculture: Beliefs, values, behavior, and material objects shared by a particular group of people within a larger society
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The Officer Code Always go to the aid of an officer in distress
Do not lug drugs for inmate use
Do not rat on other officers
Never make a fellow officer look bad in front of inmates
Always support an officer in a dispute with an inmate
Always support officer sanc-ons against inmates
Do not be a white hat or a Goody Two-‐Shoes
Maintain officer solidarity in dealings with all outside groups
Show posi-ve concern for fellow officers 10
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Exhibit 9.2 - Correctional Officer Pay in the State of Pennsylvania, 2011
Source: Rich Lord, “It Doesn’t Pay to Get Promoted in Pa. Prisons,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, February 26, 2012.
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Exhibit 9.3 - Profile of Custodial and Administrative
Correctional Personnel in Federal Bureau of Prisons Facilities, 2013
Source: Federal Bureau of Prisons, “Quick Facts about the Bureau of Prisons,” www.bop.gov/news/quick.jsp (accessed May 4, 2013).
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Correctional Officer Personalities
q Distinctive personal characteristics of correctional officers, including behavioral, emotional, and social traits
q The dictator q Enjoys giving orders and the feeling of power derived from doing so
q The friend q Tries to befriend inmates, who, in turn, try to gain special treatment
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Correctional Officer Personalities
q The merchant q Provides commodities to inmates, often in violation of institutional rules
q The turnkey q Unmotivated and bored, does little beyond the basic job requirements
q The do-gooder q Reformer who is motivated by a personal agenda such as religious proselytizing
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Correctional Officer Personalities
q The climber q Diligent worker who respects the corrections profession and is focused on rapid professional advancement
q The reformer q Know-it-all who constantly complains and endlessly criticizes institutional policies, procedures, and rules
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Correctional Officer Job Assignments
• Supervise inmates in housing areas
Block Officers
• Oversee the work of individual inmates and inmate work crews
Work Detail Supervisors
• Ensure efficient use of training and educa-onal resources within the prison
Industrial Shop and School Officer
• Supervise inmates in the prison yard
Yard Officers
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Correctional Officer Job Assignments
• Control keys and weapons and may oversee visita-on
Administra-ve Officers
• Fill security tower, wall, and perimeter patrol posts to prevent escapes and intrusions
Perimeter Security Officers
• Temporarily replace absent officers or fill staffing vacancies • Experienced COs who know and can perform any custody role in the ins-tu-on
Relief Officers
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Gender and Staffing
q Women use a less aggressive work style than men q Use communication rather than threats or force to gain inmate cooperation
q Rely more heavily on established disciplinary rules when problems arise, than male officers
q Female officers were assaulted only about one-fourth as often as male officers
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Gender and Staffing
q Most male staff members are pro-woman q Some express concerns about women’s ability to provide adequate backup in a crisis
q Sexual harassment is a major issue q Fair amount of harassment is tolerated in the correctional officer subculture
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Stress
q Tension in a person’s body or mind, resulting from physical, chemical, or emotional factors
q COs frequently deny being under stress q Fear that admitting to feelings of stress might be interpreted unfavorably
q Resort to medication or alcohol
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Factors that Create Stress
Feelings of powerlessness
Feelings of meaninglessness
Social isola-on
Self-‐estrangement
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Exhibit 9.6 - Major Sources of Correctional Officer Stress
Source: Kelly Ann Cheeseman and Wendi Goodlin-Fahncke, “The Impact of Gender on Correctional Employee Perceptions of Work Stress,” Corrections Compendium, vol. 36, No. 2 (Summer 2011), pp. 1–2.
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Techniques for Avoiding or Reducing Job Stress
Communicate openly but avoid resentment, gossip and complaining
Learn to feel confident in your skills, values, beliefs, and yourself
Develop a support system
Be a conscien-ous worker, but do not become a workaholic
Learn to manage your -me and do not procras-nate
Watch your diet and get sufficient sleep
Exercise regularly and learn some relaxa-on exercises
Spend -me cul-va-ng self-‐understanding, set goals, and make plans
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Staff Safety
q Major stressor for COs q Primary management concern for correctional administrators
q Can be improved through: q Safety programs tailored to the needs of correctional officers
q Comprehensive planning and effective training
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Job Satisfaction in Correctional Officers
Reasons for low sa-sfac-on
• High levels of stress • Feeling alienated from policymaking
• Percep-on that their profession suffers a generally poor public image
• Media portrayals of COs
Determinants of job sa-sfac-on
• Working condi-ons • Level of work-‐related stress
• Quality of working rela-onships with fellow officers
• Length of service
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Professionalism
q Commitment to agreed-upon values for: q Improving the organization q Maintaining the highest standards of excellence and dissemination of knowledge
q Professionals must present humanistic qualities q Selflessness, responsibility and accountability
q Leadership, excellence, integrity, and honesty
q Empathy and respect for all 26
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Professionalism
q Elements of correctional professionalism that need to be established q Purpose: Reason for an organization’s existence
q Mission: That which is done to support an organization’s purpose
q Vision: Planned future direction of an organization
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Officer Corruption
q Smuggling phones to prisoners q Misuse of confidential information q Drinking and abusing drugs while on duty
q Sleeping on duty q Unnecessary roughness or brutality against inmates
q Racism q Filing false disciplinary reports on inmates
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Impact of Terrorism on Corrections
q Inmates may be more vulnerable to recruitment by terrorist organizations: q As a result of their marginal social status q If they have no contact with their families and are angry and embittered
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Anti-Terrorism Planning
q Administrators and corrections personnel must be vigilant against the threat of terrorism
q Interaction with inmates provides information and should be monitored
q Strategies should be developed to control radical Islamist influences in American prisons
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