NCJ Number
124855
Date Published
1989
Length
138 pages
Annotation
This guide for correctional officers is intended to help them recognize the complexity of prison operations and professionally accepted ways of managing such operations to meet inmate needs.
Abstract
As correctional facilities become more crowded, many inmates who should be confined in single cells because of their violent backgrounds are housed instead in dormitories, dramatically increasing the chance for problems. Under such conditions, the physical limits of a facility become more pronounced, and support facilities such as gymnasiums, kitchens and dining rooms, and medical facilities are severely stressed. In many cases, program resources are inadequate for the number of inmates they serve. Perhaps even more importantly, inmate/staff ratios have resulted in less supervision, reduced security, and increased stress in many facilities. Correctional facilities also incarcerate a disproportionate share of individuals who are mentally deficient, emotionally unstable, or prone to violent and other socially deviant behavior, thus compounding the work of correctional officers. The involvement of the courts, communities, and other decisionmakers further influences the daily activities of correctional officers. Guidelines to help correctional officers respond appropriately to prison operations and inmate needs focus on officer training and responsibilities, corrections and the law, inmate supervision and discipline, security and control, firearms and the use of force, emergency plans and procedures, food service, sanitation and hygiene, health care, mentally ill inmates, inmate reception and classification, programming and related services, parole and release, and public relations and citizen involvement. An index and the American Correctional Association's Code of Ethics are included.