Correctional Officer Basic Training: Institution Subculture (COBT 146)

Flashcards covering key institutional subculture concepts, offender and officer roles, manipulation methods, setup tools, and staff protection techniques from COBT 146.

Formal/Official Social Structure

The institutional structure consisting of rules and procedures established by local, state, or federal authorities.

Informal/Unofficial Social Structure

The institutional structure also referred to as the institution subculture.

Subculture

A group within a society that has its own shared set of customs, attitudes, and values, often accompanied by jargon or slang.

Subculture Development Models

The Deprivation Model and Importation Model, which explain how subcultures develop within an institution.

Institution Code

Five rules among offenders: 1) Don't interfere with interests of other offenders; don't rat on others; 2) Play it cool and do your own time; 3) Don't whine; be a man; 4) Don't exploit offenders; don't break your word; 5) Don't be a sucker; don't trust guards or staff.

Offender Social Roles

The ten roles offenders tend to socially adapt to: Troublemaker, Pleasure seeker, Opportunist, Retreatist, Legalist, Radical, Realist, Colonist, Religious, and Gang banger.

Officer Socialization Rules

Unwritten operational rules for staff, including: experience counts over training, don't trust new guys immediately, know your boss and don't do their job, don't say more than needed, rules must be bent to do the job, maintain coworker loyalty ('Us versus Them'), and recognize offender threats.

Major Formative Influence on Staff Culture

The potential threat that offenders pose to correctional officers.

Officer Socialization Roles

The six roles officers tend to take on: Dictator/Own brand Discipline, Friend/one of the guys, Merchant/Supplier, Climber/inexperienced love advancement, Reformer/naïve, and Turnkey/Cares to little.

Mind Manipulation Factors

Conditions that make the human mind vulnerable to manipulation, including fatigue, threat, isolation, hunger, sleep deprivation, fear, and readily accepting information consistent with one's hopes or beliefs.

Setup Observation Techniques

Four observation techniques used in setting up a staff member: Body Language Observation, Listening Observation, Verbal Observation, and Action Observation.

Manipulation Target Traits

The three common character traits associated with staff members who become targets for manipulation: Soft, Hard, and Mellow.

Offender Setup Tools

Ten tools used by offenders to set up staff: The Support System, Nonverbal, Verbal, Empathy, Sympathy, Rehabilitation/Change of Lifestyle, The We/They Syndrome, The Offer of Protection, Allusions to Sex, and The Touch System.

Turning Out the Victim Steps

The three sequential steps involved in turning out a staff victim: 1. The Shopping List, 2. The Lever, and 3. The Sting.

Staff Setup Protectors

Preventative strategies to avoid being set up, including maintaining professionalism, commanding your area, learning to say NO, knowing rules, keeping everything open, avoiding you/me situations, reporting cultivation attempts, and putting observations in writing.