Female Correctional Officer - Her Progress Toward and Prospects for Equality

• NCJ Number: 94307
• Journal: Prison Journal Volume: 64 Issue: 1 Dated: (Spring/Summer 1984) Pages: 92-109
• Author(s): N Parisi
• Date Published: 1984
• Length: 16 pages
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS.

Annotation

Female correctional officers have made some advances over the years, especially regarding attitudes toward female guards and their integration into all types of facilities. Litigation on sexual integration of the guard force has sharply defined the evolutionary process and its boundaries.

Abstract

While female officials administering a male or male and female prison have been rare in the last two centuries (and female guards in male prisons was nonexistent until recently), male officials and guards have always been part of the female prison and jail organization. Female personnel were not considered equal to their male counterparts. The women's movement and other factors spurred interest in female offenders in the 1970's and support for parity in programing for male and female inmates. As cocorrectional institutions came on the scene, female guards began seeking equality with male guards. Statistics on female employment in prisons in the 1970's indicate that corrections has not yet developed a legitimate role for women compatible with male employees. Females disproportionately held clerical positions for example, in one study. However, other data show employment advances by females in terms of their integration into the prison system, although they are still primarily relegated to female institutions. Many inmates and guards do not oppose the integration of the guard force, although male prisoners complain of privacy concerns. The foremost barrier to parity is inmates' privacy rights, which conflict with the woman's right to equal employment opportunities. Most courts have compromised on the issue, requiring prisons to change work hours or renovate the prison to preserve both rights. Another barrier to parity is the belief that women normalize the prison environment. Yet if women are hired to exhibit feminine characteristics, parity will suffer. More research is needed on females' performance in prison. Two charts, 13 notes, 41 references, and a list of sexual integration court cases are provided.