NCJ Number
104704
Journal
Corrective and Social Psychiatry and Journal of Behavior Technology Methods and Therapy Volume: 33 Issue: 1 Dated: (January 1987) Pages: 154-159
Date Published
1987
Length
6 pages
Annotation
Employing female correctional officers in male prisons improves the prison atmosphere and promotes the general mental health of the prisoners, despite complaints from some prisoners that it invades their privacy.
Abstract
Initial concern that female correctional guards would be assaulted by male prisoners has shifted to the questions of invasion of prisoners' privacy and of employment discrimination. Underlying the privacy issue is the question of what is better for the mental health of the vast number of prisoners. Privacy concerns rest on personal concepts of bodily modesty. Some embarrassment is normal, but most prisoners do not experience serious modesty concerns as the result of having female officers working in their housing units. In addition, having female officers provides many positive consequences. Having women officers softens the general atmosphere, which in all-male institutions tends to be one of domination, humiliation, and competition with fellow inmates and with administrators. The presence of female guards reduces the overall trauma and misery that inmates experience. It is possible to accommodate male inmates' occasional complaints regarding invasion of modesty without removing female guards from housing units. Avoiding deriding comments or staring and using physical methods like modesty screens and shower curtains can show prisoners the respect that their dignity requires. 22 reference notes.