Gender differences in occupational characteristics of Canadian correctional officers

As women have increasingly become employed as correctional officers in prisons for male offenders, questions have been raised as to how they may, or may not, differ from their male counterparts. To examine this issue questionnaires were sent to all 866 correctional officers who directly supervised male offenders in five prisons operated by the Correctional Service of Canada. Responses were obtained from 339 officers (39%), 86% of which were male and the remaining 14% female. Female officers were more likely to be unmarried, better educated, less interested in the custody aspect of the correctional officer role, younger, have less experience as a correctional officer, have higher levels of job satisfaction, and be more accepting of women as correctional officers than were their male colleagues. No gender related differences were found in the variables of race, rank, security level worked, stress level, and quality of the working relationship experienced with coworkers. Implications of the findings are discussed     

Gender differences in mediation of severe occupational stress among correctional officers

This study explored gender differences in how correctional officers react to severe occupational stress and addressed differences in coping processes and social support utilization. The subjects were 244 correctional officers (167 men and 77 women) employed in Kentucky medium security institutions for male offenders. The study employed a survey administered to the volunteering participants. The Ways of Coping Questionnaire was used to assess coping processes used to deal with a stressful work event, and the Maslach Burnout Inventory was used to assess severe occupational stress. Statistical analyses revealed that correctional officers experience high levels of occupational stress but did not indicate gender differences in emotional exhaustion or depersonalization. The results indicated that female officers more frequently than male officers processed stress by seeking social support, while male officers more frequently than female officers processed stress by “planful problem solving.” No differences were found in correctional officers’ relationships with oppositesex peers. The results suggested that male and female correctional officers follow traditional sex roles in coping with occupational stress, but they revealed no differences in how they are affected by occupational stress in terms of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment.     

The sources and consequences of corrections officers' stress: A South Korean example

Corrections officers play crucial roles in the functioning of correctional institutions. They create and maintain the social and security milieu within prisons and often have direct impact on the behavior of inmates through their daily contact with inmates. Studies showed, however, that the correctional work environment was fraught with stress. Many studies found that corrections officers experienced excessive stress, which manifested in physical illnesses, burnout, family problems, or their inability to perform their duties—compromising institutional safety and creating further stress for other staff. These studies were instrumental in instituting improvements in the correctional work environment; however, most were conducted in Western societies. To extend the knowledge of corrections officers' work environments, this study examined correctional work among officers in South Korea. Specifically, stress-related issues outlined in previous studies were examined here to assess their relevance and applicability in the South Korean society. Implications for policy and future endeavors are discussed.     

One step up, two steps back: The progression of perceptions of women's work in prisons and jails

The corrections workplace has undergone tremendous change during the past quarter century. Judicial intervention, public and media attention, and “get tough on crime” initiatives have all led to a variety of changes. Opportunities to work in corrections, in all positions, have increased dramatically. In an effort to determine how correctional staff today regard the presence and capabilities of women in the work environment, questions were specifically developed that addressed this issue and included in a more broadly conceived questionnaire administered to correctional staff in several prisons and jails in a western state. In this article, findings are reported regarding the gender-related items. It was found that, while jail and prison staffs generally shared similar views regarding most gender-related issues, there were some significant differences between both male and female respondents and those with prior military experience on the items regarding the competency of female staff.     

Women Corrections Officers in Men's Prisons

ABSTRACT

Women have worked as corrections officers (COs) in some adult male prisons in most states for the past two decades. However, the degree of acceptance of women COs and the perception of women officers' job performance by men officers have varied greatly. This study was based on the results of a survey of men and women officers working in men's prisons in a midwestern state. Comparisons of the officers' responses about women's acceptance, safety, and perceived job performance revealed some significant gender differences. The results indicated that while women faced some resistance among men officers, it was not to the extent suggested by previous research studies, and the resistance came primarily from more experienced men officers. Women officers were confident of their ability to work effectively in men's prisons. The resistance to women that persists among some men officers is likely to provide an obstacle for women seeking opportunities for advancement and promotion in adult male prisons.     

People matter more than numbers: organized efforts against prison privatization in Florida

As the American prison population increased, so did the correctional labor force. Correctional officers in the United States have gained increased professionalism and strong representation since the 1980s. Meanwhile, many states have pushed to privatize state-run prisons in order to dampen correctional spending. Although a substantial amount of research has been conducted on the comparison of costs and qualities of confinement in public and private prisons, correctional officer labor has so far not been examined. In Florida, Senate Bill 2038, proposing the single largest expansion of prison privatization in US history, was defeated in February 2012 in the state Senate mainly as a result of lobbying by state correctional workers. By investigating the question of correctional labor from a critical perspective and by comparing salary levels, work benefits, training, and education opportunities in public and private prisons in Florida, the professionalism of correctional officers in state-run prisons vs. the working conditions their counterparts face in private facilities is contrasted. The findings suggest that adverse working conditions for correctional officers in private prisons may negatively impact correctional costs and efficiency in the longer term.     

Gender differences in occupational stress among correctional officers

Stress that relates to the work environment has received increasing attention. However, research on gender differences and work-related stress is limited. Previous research has shown that female correctional officers tend to experience higher levels of stress than do their male counterparts. However, this research found that female and male correctional officers experience similar levels of stress as measured both objectively and subjectively. Ulis result should not be surprising given the existing working conditions in most prisons today.     

Picking battles: Correctional officers,rules, and discretion in prison

To outsiders, prisons vacillate between visions of regimented order and anarchic disorder. The place of rules in prison sits at the fulcrum between these two visions of regulation. Based on 131 qualitative interviews with correctional officers across four different prisons in western Canada, we examine how correctional officers understand and exercise discretion in prison. Our findings highlight how an officer's habitus shapes individual instances of discretionary decision‐making. We show how officers modify how they exercise discretion in light of their views on how incarcerated people, fellow officers, and supervisors will interpret their decisions. Although existing research often sees a correlation between “rule‐following” by incarcerated individuals and official statistics on such misdeeds, our data highlight that official statistics on rule violations do not easily represent the rate or frequency of such misbehavior. Instead, these numbers are highly discretionary organizational accomplishments. Our findings advance an appreciation for correctional officer discretion by focusing on the range of factors officers might contemplate in forward‐looking decisions about applying a rule and how they rationalize the nonenforcement of rules.     

Female Inmates' Perspectives on Sexual Abuse by Correctional Personnel

Abstract

Research into the sexual abuse of female inmates by correctional workers is scarce, despite documentation of its occurrence in prisons across the United States. This exploratory study examined dimensions of staff-inmate sexual contact in a correctional facility in Hawaii through two focus group interviews with imprisoned women. The women described three types of sexual abuse in prison: “trading,” “love,” and “in the line of duty.” Findings include the women's account of these forms of abuse and their perceptions of responsibility for staff-inmate sexual contact in correctional institutions. The women's beliefs about factors contributing to sexual abuse of female inmates, including job expectations of and power issues among adult correctional officers (ACO's), and the consequences of reporting abuse are also discussed. Given the vulnerability of female inmates and the power dynamics that typify the prison context, further research on this problem is warranted.     

Does the job matter? Comparing correlates of stress among treatment and correctional staff in prisons

The wealth of literature on stress in the correctional workplace focused on correctional officers, frequently ignoring treatment personnel employed in these same institutions. This study advanced the literature on correctional workplace stress by: (1) testing for differences in workplace stress between correctional officers and treatment personnel, (2) examining personal and environmental factors to determine whether distinct precursors to stress existed for these two groups, and (3) utilizing multiple measures of stress. Self-report survey data from 3,794 employees in ten adult prisons in a southwestern state demonstrated that both groups of employees reported moderately high levels of job stress and stress-related health concerns. Apart from perceptions of safety, sources of stress as well as protective factors against stress were similar for both groups with environmental factors demonstrating the most robust impact.     

Service v. Security Focus in Training Assessments

ABSTRACT

As jails have moved to professionalize their staffs the role of the correctional officer has become broader in scope and now encompasses both service and security functions. However, some research suggests that female correctional staff may have more of a “service” orientation than males. In our analysis of one dataset from exclusively women's jail facilities we investigate correctional officer preferences for training (service v. security) to see if they differ by gender. We find that both male and female correctional officers generally rank service type training over security and that they differ little in their overall assessment of initial training provided and usefulness of in-service training. We also find that minority officers may be more likely to value service training than their nonminority counterparts.     

Intermediate punishment: Redistributing or extending social control?

During the past two decades, a major area of debate has been about the meaning and consequences of the community corrections movement that has now evolved into intermediate punishment. A question underlying this debate is whether or not this movement accomplishes its expressed purpose of reducing reliance on prisons by redistributing control into the community or merely extends community control without altering previous reliance on prisons. This study assesses Florida's intermediate punishment strategy of home confinement. Data from observations of program practices and interviews with home confinement officers, offenders on the program and various family members living in the home address the operational features of the program. Pre and post program statistics (1980–1987) on state population, felony convictions and forms of correctional sanctions explore the program's impact upon the state's characteristic sanctioning trends. The findings provide no support that home confinement has reduced Florida's reliance on prisons. Specifically, throughout the decade of the 1980s, and despite the operation of a home confinement program that has involved over 100,000 offenders, Florida's use of prisons experienced major increases disproportionate to the state's population, and conviction increases. The paper concludes with discussion of ironies associated with correctional reforms and related empirical and theoretical implications.     

INDIVIDUAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL DETERMINANTS OF CORRECTIONAL OFFICER ATTITUDES TOWARD INMATES*

This paper analyzes the impact of individual attributes and organizational influences in the determination of correctional officers’attitudes toward inmates. Drawing on survey data from 179 line-level correctional officers, the analysis evaluates the expectations of prison reformers that more highly educated, female, and minority officers will hold more positive attitudes toward their inmate clientele. Contrary expectations drawn from the sociology of work literature suggest that the work-role socialization will overshadow the effect of individual attributes in the determination of officer attitudes. The analysis reveals that minority officers hold more positive orientations toward inmates, while education and gender exert no impact. In addition, organizational-level characteristics are also important in the prediction of officer views of inmates. These findings suggest that correctional reforms that focus primarily on changing the demographic composition of correctional officers are quite unlikely to ameliorate significantly the tension in today's prisons. It is necessary for both reformers and social scientists to develop more sophisticated analyses of the interplay between individual attributes and work organization characteristics and their joint effects on behavior in the prison setting.     

“‘That’s a damn good officer any day of the week’: inmates’ perceptions of correctional officers”

Correctional scholars have suggested that research describing the world of imprisonment can help illuminate some of the consequences of incarceration, specifically how individuals experience incarceration and the ways in which these experiences effect their reentry and reintegration into society. The present study examines the perceptions, daily interactions, and relationships between prison inmates and correctional officers from the perspectives of those who have been incarcerated. Qualitative, in-depth interviews of men released from Texas prisons focus on former inmates’ personal experiences and perceptions toward correctional officers while serving time.     

Trepidation among the “keepers”: Gendered Perceptions of Fear and Risk of Victimization among Corrections Officers

Determining the attitudes of correctional officers relative to their level of fear and risk of victimization is important to investigate due to the relationship of the conditions of confinement and the care and custody of offenders. Furthermore, consideration of such attitudes by gender may uncover differences because of the unique obstacles female corrections officers face. This study examines the level of fear and risk of both inmate and staff related victimization by gender through administering a survey to all corrections officers employed in the adult prisons within one-state. The overall analysis indicated some level of apprehension among officers regarding their fear and risk of victimization for inmate-precipitated victimization more than staff-to-staff victimization. Female officers were also more likely to demonstrate a higher level of perceived fear and risk of inmate-precipitated and staff-precipitated victimization. In addition, race and security level were shown to be significant as predictors of both fear and perceived risk of victimization among officers.     

Extent and characteristics of woman batterers among federal inmates

Efforts to identify men who batter women in clinical settings have increased in recent years, but batterer research in United States federal prisons is lacking; low security federal prisons are logical places to consider batterer screening and treatment given the number of men, the domestic violence "risk markers" associated with these men and the likelihood they will be released and return to female partners. This study examined intake assessment data for 115 low security federal inmates. The inmates evidenced high levels of risk markers for woman battering, one in three (33%) acknowledged recent physical violence against women partners, 1 in 10 (13%) admitted severe violence, and the self-identified batterers showed more substance use and personality problems than other inmates. The findings suggest that batterer screening and treatment may be needed in federal prisons and that more research is warranted with a burgeoning male population that ultimately returns to society.     

Prisoners' Adjustment, Correctional Officers, and Context: The Foreground and Background of Punishment in Late Modernity

Past research indicates that front-line criminal justice workers are the critical players in determining whether innovations in penal policy are realized. Recent attempts to understand the diversity in the application of the penal harm movement have, however, sidestepped the primary audience of these policies, the population of convicted offenders. This article uses data from two prisons to examine the effects of correctional officers on women prisoners' adjustment to prison life. Using regression models and interview data, we find that correctional officer behavior has a profound impact on women's ability to adjust to prison, and this effect is largely independent of the prisoners' characteristics and the institutions in which they are housed. On a theoretical level, the findings speak to recent calls to examine the background and foreground of penal culture. On a practical level, they highlight the need to understand the environments from which women are emerging, not just the communities into which they are released.     

Gang activity in english prisons: The staff perspective

Abstract

Gang behaviour has been associated with serious problems in American prisons (e.g., Fong and Buentello, 1991). This study explored the possible existence of indicators of gang activity in English prisons. Surveys of problems consistent with gang activity were completed by 374 prison staff in 16 prisons that were representative of the English Prison Estate. Results showed significant differences between categories of institution. The most gang-related activity was reported in male Medium security prisons and Young Offender Institutions. The lowest reported incidence was in both male Low and High security prisons. Female establishments demonstrated levels lower only than Medium security male prisons. Discussion focuses concern on the levels of gang activity apparently present in the Medium security English Prisons and suggests directions for further research.     

The custody orientation of correctional officers: An international comparison

Correctional officers are the most numerous of staff in correctional institutions, and thus an important component in the functioning of the prison. Previous research has identified a subgroup of correctional officers who have been termed “custody oriented.” These officers value the security and supervison aspect of corrections work, and many times hold negative attitudes towards inmates. In order to ascertain the variables that may give rise to a custody orientation and to determine if these variables operate cross‐culturally, the attitudes of American (n = 229) and Canadian (n = 339) correctional officers were examined. The custody orientation of both groups was virtually identical, but the determinants of this custody orientation were quite different for the two groups of officers.     

“That shit doesn't fly”: Subcultural constraints on prison radicalization

Many observers describe prison subcultures as inherently and irredeemably antisocial. Research directly ties prison subcultures to violence, gang membership, and poor reintegration. In extreme cases, research has also suggested that prison subcultures contribute to incarcerated people joining radical groups or embracing violent extremist beliefs. These claims, however, ignore key differences in the larger cultural and social context of prisons. We examine the relationship between prison subcultures and prison radicalization based on semistructured qualitative interviews with 148 incarcerated men and 131 correctional officers from four western Canadian prisons. We outline several imported features of the prison subculture that make incarcerated people resilient to radicalized and extremist messaging. These features include 1) national cultural imaginaries; 2) the racial profile of a prison, including racial sorting or a lack thereof; and 3) how radicalization allowed incarcerated men and correctional officers to act outside the otherwise agreed-to subcultural rules. Our research findings stress the importance of contemplating broader sociocultural influences when trying to understand the relationship between radicalization and prison dynamics and politics.