Chapter 12: The World of Prison Staff - Exam 3

True or False: Prison staff spend more time behind bars than most inmates and interact extensively with inmates more than the rest of society

True

What are the characteristics of working in a prison?

Constant threat of assault and injury, never letting down your guard, underappreciated and forgotten, difficult shifts, work schedule holidays, mandates, military dress, chain of command, no sick, no late, no leaving during shift, no phone calls, no food

What are the characteristics of a correctional officer?

Need for constant vigilance, stress and danger of the job, gain compliance by enacting discipline, and critical to daily management and carrying out policies of prison

Why is there organizational stress for correctional officers?

Understaffing and shift work, holidays

What percentage do correctional officers make up of prison staff?

2/3

What are some responsibilities of correctional officers?

Assist in the accomplishment of the prison’s mission, need to buy in to the prison’s culture, maintain control and order in the prison, constant supervision of inmates, important to adhere strictly to prison policy and procedures, and maintain close communication with inmates

What is the C.O. code?

Be yourself and don’t pretend, enforce the rules, be fair, firm, and consistent, be professional, keep personal information to yourself, and NEVER GIVE OR TAKE ANYTHING FROM AN INMATE

What are the different correctional officer assignments?

Housing units, yard, perimeter security, relief, administration, activities, industrial shop/school

Post Order

A written description of the activities performed throughout the shift/day for each assigned post

Post Log Book

Contains all important facets of a post and used to pass on all important information

When is a post log book reviewed?

Beginning of shift

When do they add shift information to the post log book?

End of your shift

True or False: All visitors to the post must log in and out of the post log book with name and time

True

What is count time?

A time where all inmate movement halts and there is a count of all the inmates; considered to be one of the most important tasks for security, prevention, and escape and is completed several times throughout a 24 hour period; count must clear or the procedure is re-done until it clears or all inmates are accounted for

When and where was stateville prison?

1930-1960, max security in IL

Who was the warden of stateville prison?

Joseph Ragen

What was the description of stateville prison during Joseph Ragen’s rule?

Prison held almost 4,000 inmates in a space designed for 1,600, warden ruled the prison with an iron fist, demanded strict adherence from staff and inmates, prison clean and spotless, and inmates marched in straight lines

What happened to the stateville prison after warden Ragen retired?

Federal court intervened and forced a shift from discipline to rehabilitation which was changing too fast for the environment so the education programs that replaced work programs did not keep inmates busy enough

What happened to stateville prison in 1978?

Conditions deteriorated to anarchy and gangs ran the prison

What are the roles of the modern warden?

• No longer function autonomously

• External controls

• Develop the mission statement

• Coordinate budget

• Emergency planning and evaluation

• Management of daily activities and labor relations

• Formulation of policy

• Supervision and professional development of staff