CORRECTIONAL PROFESSIONALS
Institutional correctional personnel consist of:
– Correctional officers and supervisors
– Treatment professionals (i.e., educators, counselors, psychologists, and others)
Correctional officers have discretionary powers, such as charging an inmate with a disciplinary infraction versus delivering a verbal reprimand
Disciplinary committees also exercise discretion when making a decision to punish an inmate for an infraction
CORRECTIONAL PROFESSIONALS
Correctional officers have a full range of control, including denial of liberty and application of physical force
Treatment personnel have a responsibility to the correctional client
The needs of inmates must be balanced against the larger needs of the system or institution
CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS
In the 1970s, prison guards adopted correctional officer as a more descriptive professional title
The period also saw such dramatic changes as:
– Increased on-the-job danger– Loss of control– Increased stress– Racial and sexual integration– Deviant behavior among correctional officers– Unionization– Higher standards of professionalism– Expanded bureaucratization
CODE of ETHICS
The American Correctional Association recommends these behaviors:
Act professionally
Use professional language
Be assertive, not aggressive
Maintain honesty and integrity
Be consistent
Act impartially
Confront bad behavior
Reinforce good behavior
Practice the Golden Rule
Encourage teamwork
Respect inmates/coworkers
Don’t abuse sick leave
Be truthful with inmates
Admit mistakes
CORRECTIONAL OFFICER SUBCULTURE
Correctional officers:
– May consider inmates, superiors, and society in general as “the enemy”
– Accept use of force as a routine job element
– Show a tendency to redefine job roles to meet minimum requirements only
– Show a willingness to use deceit to cover up wrongdoing by staff
CORRECTIONAL OFFICER SUBCULTURE
Norms of the correctional officer subculture include:
• Always go to the aid of another officer
• Don't lug drugs
• Don't rat
• Never make a fellow officer look bad in front of inmates
• Always support an officer in a dispute with an inmate
• Always support officer sanctions against inmates
• Don't be a white hat
• Maintain officer solidarity against all outside groups
• Show positive concern for fellow officers
RELATIONSHIPS WITH INMATES
The majority of the institutional population, both guards and inmates, prefer to live in peace
Yet both feel they must take sides when conflict occurs
Prisoners sometimes come to the aid of officers in physical confrontations, but…
In general, inmates support fellow inmates and guards support fellow guards
A brutal guard may be protected by his fellows, and a racist guard will not be sanctioned
An assaultive inmate will not be kept in check by other inmates unless his actions are seen to hurt their interests
RECIPROCITY in SUPERVISION
Officers become dependent on inmates for completion of important tasks
In return, officers may overlook inmate infractions and allow a degree of favoritism
Officers who become personally involved with inmates compromise their professional judgment
An officer who is too close to inmates is not to be trusted
Prison management, for the most part, relies on information supplied by snitches
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
Officers have the power to make life difficult for inmates they do not like
The officers’ powerlessness relative to superiors and society in general leads some to take advantage of the only power they do have—over the inmates
An alliance sometimes forms between guards and inmates that is not unlike foreman-employee relationships
Officers insist that “you can be friendly with inmates, but you can never trust them”
Mature officers learn to live with this inconsistency
TYPES of OFFICERS
Violence-prone: use the role of correctional officer to act out an authoritarian role
Time-servers: serve time in prison much the same as most inmates do (trying to avoid trouble and hoping nothing goes wrong on their shift)
Counselors: seek to enlarge their job description; perceive their role as inmate counselor/helper
“Good” officers:
– Treat inmates fairly and don’t show favoritism– Don’t always follow rules to the letter– Use force only when necessary– Treat inmates professionally and respectfully– Treat inmates as anyone would want to be treated
ADDITIONAL CONCERNS
Like police, many correctional officers feel that court decisions and administrative goals have not supported their needs
Correctional officers report experiencing much job-related stress
Stress-related illnesses such as hypertension are common among correctional officers
So, too, are social problems such as alcoholism and divorce
USE of FORCE
Physical force is often necessary in prison situations
Prior to the 1980s, overt physical force was used routinely in U.S. prisons
This force was often excessive, even brutal
Today, the incidence of excessive force is less common, but it is still used in some institutions
Excessive physical force is commonly reported in prisons around the world
When correctional officers fail to maintain proper order, inmate gangs may fill the void and use force on rival inmates
CORRUPTION
Officer and administrator misconduct in prison settings is not uncommon
Examples:
– Bribery for access to legitimate activities– Bribery to protect illicit activities– Mistreatment/harassment/extortion of inmates– Gross mismanagement (e.g., prison industries)
Possible solutions:
– Proactive investigation and detection– Reduced opportunities– Comprehensive psychological screening– Improved working conditions– Strong, ethical supervisory role-models
LOYALTY and WHISTLEBLOWING
Loyalty—esprit de corps—is one reason officers do not report wrongdoing
Unwillingness to violate a code of silence is another
Although the term whistle-blower has negative connotations, it actually describes someone who is responding to a higher ethical code than those whose behavior is exposed
DETENTION OFFICERS in JAILS
In many respects, local jail officers have more difficult responsibilities than state prison officers
Jail population is transitory and often unstable
Offenders may come into jail intoxicated, suffer from undiagnosed diseases or psychiatric conditions, or be suicidal
Visitation is more frequent, and family issues are more problematic
The constant activity and chaotic environment of a jail often create unique ethical dilemmas
TREATMENT STAFF
The professional goal of all treatment specialists is to help the client
This goal may be fundamentally inconsistent with the punitive prison/jail environment
A dilemma of treatment programs is deciding who is to participate
Psychiatrists in corrections may feel that they are being used more for social control than treatment
TREATMENT ISSUES
Disruptive inmates needing treatment pose security risks; thus, intervention often takes the form of control rather than treatment
Some allege that psychotropic drugs are used to control inmates, rather than for legitimate treatment purposes
The principle of responsibility mandates that psychologists prevent distortion, misuse, or suppression of their psychological findings by their employing institution/agency
Institutional psychologists may feel that their findings are compromised by custody concerns
TREATMENT ISSUES
The fact that prisoners are captive audiences makes them attractive subjects for experimentation
Inmates assume that release is tied to compliance; what may appear to be voluntary participation may actually be the inmate complying because he feels he has no choice
Emphasis on security puts the treatment worker in a role of a custodian with professional training being used only to better control inmate behavior
Emphasis on treatment puts the treatment worker in an antagonistic role in relationship to the security staff
TREATMENT ISSUES
Faith-based treatment programs in prison raise ethical issues:
– Should the state support those religious programs that are successful in lowering rates of recidivism?
– Should inmates of other faiths join these programs at the risk of abandoning the principles of their first religion?
MANAGEMENT ISSUES
Access:
– Should access be denied to outside parties seeking to enter the institution to provide treatment services to inmates?
– What if the presence of these outsiders poses a threat to security?
Budget:
– Should funding of treatment programs for inmates take priority over funding safety resources for staff, or vice versa?
MANAGEMENT ETHICAL GOALS
Treat staff fairly and impartially
Make merit-based promotions
Show no prejudice
Lead by example
Develop a clear mission statement
Develop a code of ethics that is a list of “dos,” not a list of “don’ts”
Create a performance-based culture, not a seniority-based culture
Solicit staff input on new policies
Be respectful
Create an culture that values ethical behavior
MANAGEMENT and the COURTS
During the 1970s and 1980s, prisons across the country were held legally responsible for substandard conditions
Many administrators were held accountable for constitutional violations that they knew of or should have known of within their correctional systems
Administrators were faced with the ethical decision of supporting either the longstanding policies of their institutions or constitutional standards
SEXUAL HARASSMENT
Historically, prison work was male-dominated
Recently the number of female corrections officers has increased
The arrival of female employees has brought charges of work place gender discrimination and hostile work environments
Administrators have an obligation to eliminate sexual harassment and discrimination in prisons
MISTREATMENT of INMATES
A sensitive problem for administrators
If seen as too sympathetic to the plight of inmates, the staff feels they are not supported
If seen as too protective of staff, the misconduct continues or even accelerates
Allegations require firm, fair, impartial responses
MANAGEMENT and UNIONS
Correctional officer unions:
– have been successful in some states in obtaining greater benefits for their members
– have not been especially effective at promoting professionalism and ethics among their members
CROSS-SEX SUPERVISION
Until the 1970s, women were barred from working in men’s prisons
Today, women perform both correctional officer and supervisory duties in many male prisons
Most research indicates that females perform equally as well as men
Some studies indicate that women are actually more effective with male inmates because of their non-threatening manner
More male officers are now assigned to female prisons
Not unexpectedly, the number of sexually-based complaints has risen
SUPERMAX PRISONS
Prison authorities have long segregated the most notorious prisoners into special units
Today, some states have constructed the most secure facilities, referred to as supermax prisons
Supermax conditions are extremely harsh, including individual separation of all inmates around the clock and limited recreational activity
Despite a number of court challenges, the prisons continue to operate, but remain under close judicial scrutiny
THE ZIMBARDO EXPERIMENT
In the 1970s, a mock prison was set up in the basement of a building on the grounds of Stanford University
College men were arbitrarily assigned to be guards or inmates
Many of the “guard” subjects became brutal toward the “inmate” subjects
Many of the “inmate” subjects became docile and submissive
Behavioral changes in both groups were so profound that the experiment was canceled after six days
The study illustrates the profound effect of a prison experience
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