NCJ Number
164607
Date Published
1996
Length
0 pages
Annotation
This training videotape examines the role of correctional officers in relation to the adequacy of basic care in correctional facilities, rules and safety, discipline and consistency, the value of programs, inmate attitudes about confinement, and frustrations and satisfactions of correctional officers.
Abstract
Comments of correctional officers in different facilities indicate that their views of adequate basic care are sometimes different from inmate views and that inmate concerns about basic care are often first brought to the attention of correctional officers. Correctional officers believe that rules should be reasonable, that rules should be interpreted and applied fairly and consistently, and that working in correctional facilities can sometimes be dangerous. In addition, correctional officers recognize the value of inmate programs, particularly work, education, and drug-alcohol treatment programs. They realize inmates are affected by incarceration, by being separated from family and society and having no control over their own lives. Some of the frustrations experienced by correctional officers include the lack of say in the decisionmaking process, working with another correctional officer who is not serious about his or her job, and lack of communication between inmates and staff. In contrast, correctional officers indicate job satisfaction results from observing inmate successes.