Guarding in Prison (From Justice as Fairness, P 235-247, 1981, David Fogel and Joe Hudson, ed. - See NCJ-76564)

• NCJ Number: 76574
• Author(s): J Maghan
• Date Published: 1981
• Length: 13 pages
• Sale Source: Anderson Publishing Co
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

The work of the prison guard is changing; the potential for achieving justice-as-fairness for the prison guard in three areas is discussed: the standards and accreditation movement, centralized training, and the prison guard union movement.

Abstract

Although the job of the prison guard (maintaining custody and control) has remained essentially unchanged for the past 150 years, the ways of performing that role have undergone considerable change. The civil rights movement, the union movement in the private and public sectors, the growth of bureaucratic systems in government and industry, and the related need for sophisticated human resources and technical training have permeated the corrections world at all levels. As officers observed inmates achieving greater civil rights within the prison, along with more programs and services, resettlement followed. The emergence of the bureaucratic prison system requires a reassessment of the internal support systems to maintain the guarding function. Three important factors that can provide the needed support necessary for correctional guards are the standards and accreditation process for corrections, centralized training, and the union movement. Through union representation, prison guards are achieving access to management to ensure justice in terms of job expectations. Through centralized training, the administration has authority to instruct and expect accountability to ensure justice for inmates and as much efficiency as possible in operations and management. The formulation of standards and an accreditation process provides an external constituency for the prison guard and inmate in the form of a complementary support system. With the emergence of a correction academy, the heretofore parochial nature of training inherent in most prison systems can be lessened. Finally, recognition of prison guards as an employee group with particular needs has made considerable progress in the 1970's. Twelve footnotes and eight references are supplied.