...to write on “The American Correctional Association (ACA)” I chose this organization because I was a member when I was a correctional officer. This organization helps officers deal with everyday life behind bars. It teaches us how and what steps to take when dealing with inmates and other correctional officers. As an officer of the criminal justice system we are held to certain standards amongst the community and profession. Like any other position in this field we must deal with certain individuals that by law was convicted of some serious crimes. Being a correctional officer, we are not there to be judge, jury and executioner of the person that was convicted. Our job is to enforce certain rules and regulations while they are incarcerated. Another part of our job is to provide a safe and secure place for both inmates and there visitors. If an inmate breaks the rules set forth by the Department of Corrections, that inmate will be subjected to either additional time in prison for his offense, sent to another jail and/or solitary confinement. This organization is the American Correctional Association (ACA). The ACA is an organization that it’s members are dedicated to serving in the prison system, provide a expert union for all individuals and groups, both public and private that share a universal goal of humanizing the justice system. It is the umbrella organization for all areas of corrections, including federal, state and military correctional facilities and prisons,...
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...Correctional Officers Experience The control exercised over offenders in a correctional environment is called custody. The custody levels are maximum, medium, to minimum they refer to the way prisons or units within prisons are classified. The three C’s of corrections are care, custody, and control that correctional officers learn in training. The correctional officers will present themselves as professional at all times. The officers will let the prisoners know we are here to keep safety and security within the prison walls. The prison having well-trained officers and well-orchestrated schedule for the officers to follow will help to better security within the prison. The officers will communicate with each other at all time they are in the prison own stress as it is. Inmates can pick up on the officer’s inability to focus on their job and use that. Correctional officers will have to keep work life and home life separated. How do you ensure professionalism among the corrections staff? Communities rely on federal and state prisons, county jails, and other correctional facilities to help ensure public safety by operating secure facilities. Correctional officials recognize that their work is a public service and that unethical behavior and /or misconduct erodes public confidence in these officials. It is for this reason that corrections departments across the country adopt and enforce codes of ethics and conduct for correctional officers and other employees whose job...
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...Correctional officers must have critical-thinking skills because they must be able to rapidly and proficiently solve problems at hand. Correctional officers must also have self-discipline in order to control their emotions when dealing with uncertain circumstances that could possibly include boisterous prisoners or nerve-wracking situations. Negotiation skills are another requirement that correctional officers must possess due to they must be able use negotiation in order to avoid conflict. Interpersonal skills would be another requirement for correctional officers because they must be able to successfully converse with corrections staff and inmates. Another requirement would be good judgement for the reason that correctional personnel’s must...
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...Correctional Officers Patricia Johnson CRJ 303 Prof. Lott April 18, 2012 Correctional Officers The life of a corrections officer is and can be very dangerous. Corrections officers have to deal with hundreds of inmates on a daily bases and ensure that each inmate is safe and secure while under their supervision. Being a corrections officer can also be very stressful and dangerous. They are not only concern with their safety, but the safety of other officers, visitors, and the inmates. This job is not for everyone only for the strong and strong minded. As with any job, corrections officers have to perform a post order, before getting started for the day. Their day consist of routine activities and constant communication with inmates and other staff members. Their shift will start first with them arriving and reading the log book, then dealing with inmates going to work, eating lunch, going to the recreation yard and them ending it by recording what happen throughout the day and turning over their keys to the next shift. 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...
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...the Department of Corrections the oath that an officer takes holds this as a guide to uphold some polices of corrections. The respect that an officer gets is earned both on and off the job. We as correctional officers cannot engage in bribery, corruption, or allow another officer to do such. A correctional officer cannot accept gifts, favors, or gratuities from inmates or their families. They cannot accept or give to any inmate. Each morning before beginning tour of duty, an officer is reminded of how much integrity means in his or her lines of duty. They are reminded that they must refrain from personal dealings, sexual harassment and DUI. All of these acts if committed hurts your integrity and brings a frown upon the department. Anytime there is a corrupt officer from corrections on the news it not only hurts their institution but the department as a whole. Anytime an officer is in a situation where they feel they are lying, misleading or not within policy they should refrain from doing it. Correctional officers must present themselves both publicly and privately as trustworthy citizens and officers. Doing the right thing al all times will never go wrong. Inmates try to manipulate staff on a daily basis. They work hard to try to become a threat to an officer so they can lead them to corruption. They want the officer to bring in items that are contraband (cell phones, money, drugs etc.). The integrity that the officer has will reflect the right decision to make....
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...citizen. Some of these connotations have created several myths surrounding what a correctional institution is and what it does. Ideally, mentally ill offenders that are assigned to a correctional facility are supposedly “rehabilitated” through such an assignment. However, as a state or sheriff office representatives- we as a community of professional are not at liberty to mistreat other human beings- morally and ethically. Conversely, prison, jail, and correctional environment are different. This is a subculture within a subculture- with its own rules, regulation, and policies for both employee’s and inmates a like. (Mash, 2013, Para. 2) International Association for Correctional Psychology and Forensic (IACFP) standards discussed in chapter 12 of Bartol and Bartol (2012) holds an institutional psychologist responsible for their actions even though the client population are in secure custody, and in most events in segregation. As the authors elaborate on page (pp. 411-413)… “Both jails and prisons… can be violent, noisy… demeaning places that promote isolation, helplessness and subservience through the use of overwhelming power, often by instilling fear”( Bartol and Bartol, 2012, p. 411). In collaboration, all these feelings can help and generate thoughts of suicide, thoughts of inadequacy, lack of self-worth, and loss of humanity. Needless to say, Bartol and Bartol (2012) further state… “Correctional professionals maintain that both jails and prisons also can be operated in a humane...
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...Life Behind Bars: Women in Prison Abstract When we think of women in prison as of lately, we think of Orange is the New Black, a television show centered on a woman whom after ten years of living a relatively quiet and normal life, is sentenced to prison for transporting a suitcase full of drug money for her former girlfriend. What we fail to see is the real prison facilities that women are sentenced to for nonviolent drug and property offenses. There are two sides of women behind bars, the female offender and the female correctional officer. First, the vast majority of female prisoners are likely coerced into committing crimes for their partners and as a result have ended up behind bars. Many female offenders are incarcerated as a result of the too strict laws and policies adopted at the height of the “war on drugs.” Majority of women incarcerated in prisons and jails come from poverty ridden surroundings, where there is a lack of support from family; have experienced physical and/or sexual abuse, some having happened while as young children; and suffer from physical and mental health problems as well as substance abuse issues. The majority of women serving time who have suffered from abuse, poverty, lack of educational and vocational skills are mothers, with a vast majority of them being the sole support and caregivers for their children. Second, the female correctional officer is sometimes viewed as infiltrating a male dominated field...
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...basis in this closed society creates conditions where corruption at some level is likely to occur (Bureau, 2012). Research suggests corruption of correction officers, also known as detention officers, or guards is a serious issue that should be continually addressed by facility management because it occurs for many reasons and takes on many forms that can pervert the justice system. This paper will explain some main forms of corruption, give outrageous examples of documented corruption, and spell out why, given the ethics expected of the profession, corruption must be continually addressed and prevented. The first step for criminals is finding the officer with a mindset that can be corrupted. Low to median pay scales for these officers and an increase in offenders affiliated with the gang element of society has increased the potential for corruption related manipulation of prison staff (Diaz, 2009). “Corrections and law enforcement work by its very nature involves the...potential for gradual deterioration of social-moral inhibitions and perceived sense of permissibility for deviant conduct” (Barnhart, 2010a). There are those individuals who are corrupt that are weak individuals who passed through the screening process for employment undetected, and who will give in to the temptations that will always exist in correctional work. There are also those who are simply deviant individuals who have found a work environment that offers them many...
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...must operate under the law to be able to successfully take care of the inmates by which they house within their facilities, they have to teach and educate each officer on all levels of the understanding of the constitution, and not only for the guiding and maintaining a safe environment and implementing the proper rules and regulations when it comes to inmates but the officers on duty within the jail and prisons are heal accountable for knowing and understanding they have the rights and must be also treated under the constitution as employees, the inmates within the confinement has over the years been able to study and gain a knowledge that may even be superior to 85% of the officers that works within a facility and often times know how to work and use their rights to gain control over an officer. According to the Course Text there is a consideration of constitutional law and prisoners’ rights such as civil rights of prisoners, the prisons and jails must operate under the law to be able to successfully take care of the inmates by which they house within their facilities, they have to teach and educate each officer on all levels of the understanding of the constitution, and not only for the guiding and maintaining a safe environment and implementing the proper rules and regulations when it comes to inmates but the officers on duty within the jail and prisons are heal accountable for knowing and understanding they have the rights and must be also treated under the constitution as...
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...Corrections accreditation is a system of verification that correctional agencies/facilities comply with national standards promulgated by the American Correctional Association. Accreditation is achieved through a series of reviews, evaluations, audits and hearings (ACA.org, n. d.). According to the American Correctional Association (n. d.) in order for a correctional facility to be eligible for accreditation they must hold convicted adults or juveniles adjudicated delinquent, pretrial or presentenced adults or juveniles, and/or adult or juveniles offenders sentenced to community supervision. It officially began in 1978, and today it is jointly administrated by the American Correctional Association (ACA) and the Commission on Accreditation in Corrections (CAC). The accreditation program offers public and private organizations performing correctional functions the opportunity to evaluate their operations against national standards, to remedy deficiencies, and to upgrade the quality of correctional programs and services (Foster, 2006). Foster (2006) stated “professionalization has to do with gaining professional status for persons working in corrections” (p.176). The professional development of corrections officers is truly affected by the corrections accreditation. They work toward obedience within the standards that represent professional practices. There are millions of people who work in the jail and prisons system for adults and juveniles. Some of those public employees work...
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...Death Row Correctional Officers : Experiences, Perspectives, and Attitudes Kelly L. Brown and Melissa Benningfield Criminal Justice Review 2008 33: 524 originally published online 3 September 2008 DOI: 10.1177/0734016808322323 The Problem: “Living death” as death row is called by some is a horrific experience for not only the inmates, but also the correctional officers who work in the death row unit. The feeling of hopelessness and powerlessness is sometimes transferred to the correctional officers. This study will look at how death row affects the correctional officers that work in the unit. According to Brown and Benningfield (2008) “Correctional officers who are assigned to death row must interact with offenders who experience this “living death” and who have been convicted of such heinous crimes that society pronounces them undeserving of life (525).” Research Design: A total of 40 correctional officers who had worked on death row and 9 who were still working on death row were part of the study. Data collection for this study was done by survey. There were open-ended questions like, “Would you say that working on death row is different from working in other units at the institution? If so, how?” For the closed-ended questions the researchers used a 6-point Likert scale (strongly agree, agree, slightly agree, slightly disagree, disagree, and strongly disagree). Findings: There were more male officers (67.5%) than were female officers. Of these officers, 56% were...
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...Probation and Punishment Criminal Justice 06/09/2014 Professor Karina Probation and Punishment Probation is an option provided by the court as a form of supervised punishment for criminal offenders that do not pose a major threat to society. After reviewing the file of Kris, Robert Donovan, a Jurisville probation officer, has suggested intensive probation. Probation officers review the file of a criminal defendant and make recommendations to the court. Intensive probation refers to supervision by a probation officer that is highly structured and designed to divert the offender from going to prison. Criminal defendants sent to prison are far more likely to commit further crimes upon their release then the defendant placed on probation. When reviewing the case of Kris the probation officer would have seen that the defendant committed a nonviolent crime with the theft of the jacket but Kris confessed to committing the crime which is a felony and must be punished. Instead of sending Kris to jail, where he will potentially learn new criminal skills, he can be placed on probation and given an opportunity to learn a new set of behaviors towards crime. Probation does not only allow the criminal defendant to avoid jail it provides an opportunity for the probationer to make positive changes and become a more productive member of society (Howell, 2009). Secondly probation helps to relieve overcrowding in prison. Many prison systems are overcrowded with prison...
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...I interviewed correctional officer Brian Sanchez from City Of New York Police Department 67 precinct. He began his career in the 67th precinct as a patrolman in 1989. In 1994, Brian was promoted to chief of police. Brian has his bachelors of science in criminal justice from John Jay College for Criminal Justice (University) and a masters of science in forensics from the same school. Since his time working as police officer, he also did numerous of volunteer work and some classroom instructions. In 2003, Brian later switched his mindset and became a correctional officer. As much as he loved being a patrolman and working as a police officer, Brian said he couldn't hide his passion to help inmates. Growing up he was also told to be a policeman because his mother wanted him to follow in his father’s footsteps. He didn’t choose the job because he wanted to please his mom; he did it because it’s what’s inside him to do. He's been working as a correctional officer for approximately eight years and says that he loves his job and he never gets stressed a day in his life. His passion didn’t come easy, but it came with hard work. He had to go through series of classes and training. There were days when he felt defeated but he kept going. He now uses what he was thought as well as his knowledge to help others make a better change for their lives. I was surprised at the smiles he had during the interview. I have never seen someone so profoundly happy about his or her career. It's like the...
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...in some form or another and correctional officers are at the top of that list. You have some very intelligent inmates in our prisons today who have some morals and then you have some out right psychopaths, but the vast majority of our prisoners today are ordinary people who have made a mistake and some how have got caught up in the system with no idea how to get out. With virtually no form of rehabilitation in our penal system today 70% of all these inmates are lost without hope and will end up back in the system after they are released. Taking this into account, not every Tom, Dick and Harry can come to work in America's prisons. We are packing some of the worst that society has to offer in over crowded prisons all across our country and expecting officers to do the job the way it is supposed to be done. Over the eleven years I have been incarcerated it had grown steadily worse for inmates and correctional officers alike. The title of this essay is "What Makes a Good Corrections Officer," and that is a difficult question to answer, especially with me being an inmate. Trying to keep my emotions from interfering and not to be biased in my writing is a difficult task indeed. Most inmates feel a good officer is one who will let the inmate get away with murder, but that isn't realistic because that would just let the inmates run all over the system. Rules and guidelines are necessary to control our growing prison populations and correctional officers are needed to enforce those...
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...BOOK SMARTS OR STREET SMARTS THE ON GOING DEBATE TODAY AMONG CORRECTION OFFICERS REBECCA KIRBY PROFESSOR STEPHEN N. KNIGHTS, JR. OCTOBER 18, 2014 INTRODUCTION This paper will be discussing the debate on whether or not higher education in law enforcement officers should be mandatory and the effect it can have in the correctional facilities. It will also have insight from a local police officer on the education debate. As of today, only two states, Minnesota and Wisconsin require a police officer to obtain at least an associate’s degree. Other states carry a much lower standard, only asking for a high-school diploma or a GED to satisfy their requirements. It is often said that the criminal justice system and corrections are a booming business. Over the past two decades, the need for staff has increased and the need for education has also increased. But is it street smarts you need or is it book smarts? TOPIC: WORK ETHICS As a correctional officer there are many things that go into what they do. They have to be professional, understanding, logical, compassionate, intelligent, and reasonable. A correctional officer has many jobs while on duty and the police department asks a lot of them. Determining if an officer needs to have a college education is difficult. Debate on this controversy has led to the study of work ethics surrounding officers who do have some sort of formal education. This research dates back to the 1930s by August Vollmer and later...
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