NCJ Number
183771
Date Published
1998
Length
199 pages
Annotation
This book examines the changing role of the correctional officer, personnel management, and organizational issues influencing correctional officer career path development and the need for professionalization.
Abstract
Historically, corrections has been viewed as an occupational field, not a profession. The correctional institution was a facility designed to punish and the correctional officer’s duty was strictly custodial. In the absence of demand for additional skills, little attention was paid to upgrading the position. The book attempts to determine why people are attracted to institutional custody work, how and why they remain employed, and why they choose to leave. Those questions are important because correctional officers, who spend more time with inmates than anyone, are the backbone of institutional efforts to secure, control and rehabilitate offenders. The book concludes that knowledgeable, highly skilled, motivated, and professional correctional personnel are essential to effectively fulfill the purpose of corrections; both training and higher education are necessary for the complete correctional officer. The book describes a model Correctional Peace Officer Certificate Program and a model Educational Assistance Program. References, cases cited, index