Prison guards
Prison guards, now more commonly referred to as correctional officers, play a crucial role in managing and securing correctional facilities. Their primary responsibilities include maintaining order, ensuring the safety of both inmates and staff, and controlling the facility’s environment. With the significant rise in incarceration rates since the 1970s, the role of correctional officers has evolved, necessitating more professional training and a focus on human services. In addition to traditional security measures, such as monitoring for contraband and conducting searches, correctional officers also address inmates' daily needs, which can include facilitating work schedules and medical appointments.
Despite the importance of their role, correctional officers often face challenges such as stress, low job satisfaction, and role conflict, as they must balance security duties with interpersonal interactions. The profession has historically had low status and pay; however, efforts to professionalize the role have increased training requirements and aimed to diversify the workforce. As a result, the work environment can be complex, as officers must navigate relationships with inmates, often seeking cooperation for effective management. Understanding the multifaceted responsibilities and challenges faced by correctional officers provides insight into the complexities of the prison system and the impact on both staff and inmates.
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Subject Terms
Prison guards
Definition: Government employees responsible for custody and control of inmates
Significance: The role of prison guards has changed since the 1970s as a result of problems in US prisons and an increase in incarceration rates.
Prison guards, more commonly known today as correctional officers, are primarily concerned with keeping prison inmates in custody and maintaining control of the facilities. These are the two most important prison guard functions. Guards are also responsible for ensuring the safety of all staff and inmates in the prison.
Guards follow procedures in order to guarantee security in prison facilities. In addition to the standard security features such as cameras, locks, and so on, other procedures are implemented to maintain safety and control. For example, one of the primary safety concerns is the existence of contraband, which may include drugs, weapons, or other items banned within the facility. Guards attempt to control the distribution and circulation of contraband by conducting unannounced body and cell searches. However, some guards actually participate in the underground prison economy by bringing contraband into the facility and profiting by its sales.
Along with security and order maintenance functions, the role of guard involves a great degree of work in human services. Guards are responsible for tending to the daily needs of the inmates living in their cell block, which includes everything from letting the inmates out to go to work and scheduling medical appointments to helping them solve institutional problems. Sometimes prison guards are not prepared for the amount of human service work their job entails, as training can focus heavily on security measures. The illusion that guards control the prison quickly vanishes for new guards as they learn that control is primarily maintained not through force but through inmate cooperation. As there are more inmates than guards in every prison, guards may grant small privileges to inmates in exchange for good behavior.
In the past, the job of prison guard held low status and pay. Little formal education was required, and the job carried few opportunities for advancement or promotion. However, the need for a more professional guard became necessary after years of problems in the nation’s prisons, the dramatic increase in incarceration rates since the 1970s, and the inability of the prison system to retain officers. The move to professionalize the prison guard incorporated more training, psychological screenings, the replacement of the title "prison guard" with that of "correctional officer," and an attempt to recruit minorities and women.
Overall, the role of prison guard can cause stress and can be very alienating. Organizational factors contribute to low job satisfaction and job stress, including a lack of supervisory support, a lack of participation in decision making, low pay, and little opportunity for advancement or promotion. Also, role conflict may contribute to stress because the officer must perform the human service functions in addition to those of custody and control. These roles often conflict, and the “people work” aspect of working with the inmates may lead to chronic stress or burnout.
Bibliography
Conover, Ted. Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing. New York: Random, 2000. Print.
Herman, Peter G., ed. The American Prison System. New York: Wilson, 2001. Print.
Steinberg, Eve P. Correction Officer. New York: Macmillan, 1997. Print.