Whitehead: Corrections, 3rd Edition

Case Studies

Chapter 08: Correctional Administrators and Personnel

For the last 20 years, you have worked in the state prison system. You have worked as correctional officer, shift supervisor, sergeant, lieutenant, and most recently, assistant warden of a local prison. The governor contacts you and offers you a job as a warden at another facility. You accept the position.

Once you arrive at the prison you meet with the supervisors at the facility. They complain that the correctional staff lacks motivation and respect for the supervisors. After meeting with the supervisors, you hold a meeting with the staff (without the presence of their supervisors). The staff complains that the supervisors expect them “to do all the work.”

You decide to walk around the facility to observe officers at their work stations. Several inmates complain to you that some of the correctional staff are verbally and physically abusive. Other inmates complain that the officers “write them up” for minor rule violations and mete out unfair discipline.

It seems that you have a lot to consider. You decide to learn more about the problems at the prison. You want to understand the concerns facing correctional staff and the job duties of each of your officers.

Questions

  1. What are the primary concerns with managing correctional staff?

    Correct Answer

    Health concerns become magnified within the prison environment. This is true both for inmates and for correctional staff. The institutional environment affords the opportunity for the spread of several communicable diseases that are better contained and more easily treatable among the general public. Tuberculosis, hepatitis, and HIV have troubled correctional institutions for years and have become significant management concerns.

    The administration’s ability to recognize and respond to staff healthcare needs is critical to maintaining good personnel relations. However, correctional staff often have additional problems that may be overlooked or minimized. Along with obvious health threats like tuberculosis, hepatitis, and HIV, correctional workers may face a potentially greater threat from stress, the symptoms of which may go unnoticed. In turn, stress may lead to a variety of physical and emotional illnesses, such as high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, depression, and substance abuse. Stress also affects the organization in both effectiveness and turnover.
    Research on stress has shown that a significant source of stress for many correctional employees is the organization. The good news is that supervisors can make a difference. For example, a recent study of occupational stress in Australian correctional officers found that supervisor support was a strong predictor of both job satisfaction and work-related psychological well-being.

    Although correctional administrations generally are responsive to the needs of correctional staff, bureaucratic governmental organizations sometimes need prodding to initiate action. One way in which correctional employees may emphasize their concerns is through the power of employee unions. Correctional administration, especially as it pertains to human resource issues, is often impacted by the presence of labor organizations or unions designed to protect the interests of correctional officers. The relationship between these organizations and the correctional administration is “an integral part of prison management”

  2. What are some of the correctional officer career concerns?

    Correct Answer

    Often correctional position salaries are low, which limits recruitment possibilities and contributes to high turnover. However, in some areas (especially those areas with strong unions) correctional jobs provide a good alternative to other occupations requiring only a high school diploma.

    Most states require a high school diploma or GED to be eligible for employment as a correctional officer. A few states require an associate’s or bachelor’s degree, but all of these states waive the higher education requirement for years of experience. Despite the lack of required college education for entry-level correctional officer positions, many states give pay increases to applicants who hold a college degree. Further, some states require college experience to obtain a promotion within the prison.   While most prisons strive to have the most educated workforce possible, low starting salaries and stressful work environments make recruitment difficult.

    In the last 40 years, the trend has been to increase training of correctional officers. Although the overcrowding problem of the 1980s limited and slowed the trend toward professionalization, most states now have quite extensive training academies. In these academies, officers experience training somewhat similar to that given law enforcement personnel—a combination of practical “how to” courses and a sampling of sociological and psychological offerings such as communication, cultural sensitivity, criminology, and legal rights of prisoners. Some of the common components in a training curriculum include: conflict resolution administrative policies and procedures, diversity training, ethics, use of firearms and chemical agents, basic first aid and CPR techniques, and guidance toward inmate management. Many of those who have been in the correctional system for a long time observe that it is different from the “old days” when officers were given their stick and told to “do their best.”

  3. What are the various job duties in prison?

    Correct Answer

    Block officers: This is often the most demanding job inside the prison. During the day, typical tasks vary from security and supervision of inmates to routine housekeeping duties such as plumbing. During night shifts, typical duties include making rounds and handling any inmate problems as they arise.    

    Work Detail Supervisors: Duties often include distributing goods to inmates in the clothing room, commissary, hobby shop, or store house. Work detail supervisors are responsible for managing inventory and supervising the inmates on work duty. 

    Industrial Shop and School Officers: Officers are often assigned to supervise and provide security to inmates working in various industries or educational settings within the facility. These officers often work with other professionals such as industrial foremen, teachers and counselors.  Officers assigned to these areas typically supervise a fewer number of inmates at a time than block officers.

    Yard Officers: New officers are often assigned to supervising the recreational yard. This assignment is unique because of the unstructured nature of the prison yard in which there are few tasks to complete other than keeping a watchful eye for any rule violations. 

    Administration Building Assignments: Officers assigned to the administration building have very little, if any, contact with inmates. Instead, their duties often involve interacting with the public during visitation. Other duties could include controlling the keys and weapons, handling finances, and processing paperwork.

    Wall Posts: These officers are responsible with maintaining the perimeter fence security.  These officers have very little communication with the other correctional staff and spend most of their time maintaining their equipment, making scheduled security checks, and otherwise passing their time. It is important to note that as correctional facilities become more technologically advanced, wall posts jobs have increasingly been replaced with cameras.

    Relief Officers: Relief officers typically substitute on an as needed basis when an officer calls in sick or takes a vacation.  These officers most often rotate assignments and perform a wider variety of jobs.

Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.