Post by Doberman on Feb 21, 2009 14:38:37 GMT -5
First of all, there is no corrections officer big enough to walk into a pod full of inmates and not be outnumbered. The size of an officer is not the determining factor as to whether or not an individual will succeed as a corrections professional. Along the same lines, gender is no more of a determining factor than size is. Many people in fact think that the presence of women staff helps keep the atmosphere of the facility calmer and more at an even keel.
Now, the word “presence” is the key. I define presence as the way you carry yourself—confident, head up, making eye contact, not walking like a victim, professional and taking pride in your appearance. Presence also comes from knowing your job and the rules you are expected to follow and enforce.
Presence for the inmate means they know you will, without exception, enforce your Department’s rules and enforce them fairly and in the same way with all inmates. In other words, if you tell one inmate to tuck his shirt in or wear his ID properly, you tell all inmates to do so when needed, without exception. You do not vary.
You are the one who tows the line. They just follow you.
Inmates will also not respect you if you do not respect yourself. You show self-respect again by your presence, i.e., how you carry yourself and how you enforce the rules. It is a rule that they are not allowed to abuse you or any other staff member. If you allow them to abuse you, they will not respect you. You have to show you command respect by doing just that…commanding it. Don’t let an inmate “front you off” in the presence of other inmates. They lose respect when they are fronted off, and, to their way of thinking, so will you. If an inmate makes an inappropriate comment to you—says you look sexy, calls you a bitch, whatever—take him aside and advise him that you expect to be treated with respect and, if he can’t comply with your expectation, you will take disciplinary action.
Sometimes you may not act quickly enough or in the way you would have liked. That’s OK. They will make that same mistake again. In corrections you always have time to plan for a future you know is coming. Always write a narrative of the incident and advise the inmate you will be informing your supervisor so that they know that a third party will be involved. Let them know you don’t keep secrets.
We have a high concentration of manipulators, predators and others with severe personality disorders in a prison population. I am not smart enough to tell by looking at one of these guys that he’s harmless, and neither are you. So don’t let an inmate try to be your friend. If they want to be your friend you can safely assume that it is for their good, not yours.
Maintain a professional distance. If you fail to do that, inmates will lose respect for your authority. We are not here to play their game. They are here to learn ours. Professional distance does not mean that you cannot be pleasant, say “Hello,” talk about the weather or the game, or look at pictures of an inmate’s family. Professional distance means that you do all these things without divulging any of your own personal information. When you talk about the game, don’t say what your brother or son thought about it. When you look at pictures of his family, don’t talk about your own.
The only thing an inmate needs to know about you is that you are here to do your job.
Remember, you tow the line, so that they will tow the line. We do this work to change their behavioral patterns. We make them follow rules so that they learn to follow rules. We make them respect us, so that they learn to respect others. We draw the line, because they can’t or won’t. We do not allow them to abuse us in any way, because they are here to learn not to make victims.
You may be surprised to hear that your job is that important. It is. You are here to administer the policies of your Department of Corrections and to fulfill its Mission Statement. That’s it.
If the requirements of this job conform to your personal values and life philosophy, you may have picked the right career. If not, you need to keep looking.
Now, the word “presence” is the key. I define presence as the way you carry yourself—confident, head up, making eye contact, not walking like a victim, professional and taking pride in your appearance. Presence also comes from knowing your job and the rules you are expected to follow and enforce.
Presence for the inmate means they know you will, without exception, enforce your Department’s rules and enforce them fairly and in the same way with all inmates. In other words, if you tell one inmate to tuck his shirt in or wear his ID properly, you tell all inmates to do so when needed, without exception. You do not vary.
You are the one who tows the line. They just follow you.
Inmates will also not respect you if you do not respect yourself. You show self-respect again by your presence, i.e., how you carry yourself and how you enforce the rules. It is a rule that they are not allowed to abuse you or any other staff member. If you allow them to abuse you, they will not respect you. You have to show you command respect by doing just that…commanding it. Don’t let an inmate “front you off” in the presence of other inmates. They lose respect when they are fronted off, and, to their way of thinking, so will you. If an inmate makes an inappropriate comment to you—says you look sexy, calls you a bitch, whatever—take him aside and advise him that you expect to be treated with respect and, if he can’t comply with your expectation, you will take disciplinary action.
Sometimes you may not act quickly enough or in the way you would have liked. That’s OK. They will make that same mistake again. In corrections you always have time to plan for a future you know is coming. Always write a narrative of the incident and advise the inmate you will be informing your supervisor so that they know that a third party will be involved. Let them know you don’t keep secrets.
We have a high concentration of manipulators, predators and others with severe personality disorders in a prison population. I am not smart enough to tell by looking at one of these guys that he’s harmless, and neither are you. So don’t let an inmate try to be your friend. If they want to be your friend you can safely assume that it is for their good, not yours.
Maintain a professional distance. If you fail to do that, inmates will lose respect for your authority. We are not here to play their game. They are here to learn ours. Professional distance does not mean that you cannot be pleasant, say “Hello,” talk about the weather or the game, or look at pictures of an inmate’s family. Professional distance means that you do all these things without divulging any of your own personal information. When you talk about the game, don’t say what your brother or son thought about it. When you look at pictures of his family, don’t talk about your own.
The only thing an inmate needs to know about you is that you are here to do your job.
Remember, you tow the line, so that they will tow the line. We do this work to change their behavioral patterns. We make them follow rules so that they learn to follow rules. We make them respect us, so that they learn to respect others. We draw the line, because they can’t or won’t. We do not allow them to abuse us in any way, because they are here to learn not to make victims.
You may be surprised to hear that your job is that important. It is. You are here to administer the policies of your Department of Corrections and to fulfill its Mission Statement. That’s it.
If the requirements of this job conform to your personal values and life philosophy, you may have picked the right career. If not, you need to keep looking.
