List the staff roles within the organizational hierarchy of correctional institutions

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Chapter 9 The Staff World:

Managing the Prison

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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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