Blog #21

The National Association for Female Corrections Officers is a nonprofit organization whose goal is to eliminate sexual harassment of female officers and to eliminate sexual assault. They also work to improve work conditions and to promote the development of new, cutting edge, technology. The NAFCO proposal includes many legislative reform proposals. The main issue that seems significant to this group is rape and sexual assault of female officers on duty. In their Federal Legislative Proposal, one of the goals is “Develop and implement national standards for the detection, prevention, reduction, and punishment of rape, sexual assault, and sexual harassment of female correctional officers and employees” while many of the other points also deal with rape issues. Another feature of the NAFCO website is the “Memorial” section, which remembers female officers who have been killed on duty. The most recent woman to die on duty was Darla Kay Lethram in 2003, who was supervising a group of inmates who beat her to death with a sledge hammer in an escape attempt. I thought the stories listed in the memorial were shocking tales of violence on the job and personally I think they go against what Britton says are the realities of prison life. However, if you look at the dates of these female officer who have died, there are not very many considering the span of years that it covers, from the early 20th century to today.

Compared with Britton’s suggestions, NAFCO’s suggestions are fairly similar and ideological for the prison system. Britton writes, “Racism and sexual harassment remain obstacles and should be more aggressively addressed.” NAFCO is an organization that addresses issues of sexual harassment aggressively. Also, both Britton and NAFCO are advocates for better and more realistic training programs. “Women have proven that they can perform the previously unimaginable task of working in men’s prisons. Many of them…are quietly and gradually transforming what it means to be an officer within the confines of the prison’s iron cage.” (Britton p. 226). This statement that Britton makes at the end of her book is significant because it proves that women are capable of holding and succeeding in the same jobs as men. Women need to be acknowledged more in this type of career so that society will not view the prison system as such a gendered organization. With help from organizations like NAFCO and continued awareness in the media through books such as “At Work in the Iron Cage” or newspaper articles that feature women guards, slowly the prison career will become one for all people and not just white males.

Blog #20

The hostage situation that took place at Lewis Prison in Arizona involved prison guard Lois Fraley and two inmates, who held her hostage for 15 days, beating and raping her repeatedly. The other guard who was in the tower with Fraley was immediately knocked out and beaten by the prisoners. Fraley’s account of the hostage situation is very frightening and I feel that it proves that because she was a woman she could better survive this situation. For instance, she claims that she was a “good hostage” by talking about her daughter and fabricating stories of abuse she received by her stepfather as a child, so that the men would not beat her as often. She said that she tried to get the prisoners to think of her as a real person so that they could relate to her and hopefully spare her life. They quickly took down the male officer and only spared Fraley for the fact that she was a woman. Neither of the guards were able to take control of the inmates since the inmates stormed in with weapons and automatically the guards were at a disadvantage. Schriro, the prison chief of Arizona, successfully handled this situation. However, during the time that the men were holding Fraley hostage, there were many discrepancies of the tower of the prison that were noticed. For instance, there was no way for the investigators to get a look inside the tower and there was “a disconnect between the physical plant, the staffing and the equipment”.

Schriro has faced many criticisms because she is the first woman in Arizona to be the prison chief. Since prison systems have for a long-time been gendered, masculine, structures, Shriro has had to work harder to prove herself and to earn her job title. The Phoenix Magazine wrote about how one Arizona newspaper criticized Shriro by showing the various hairstyles she has had over time. I do not feel that this type of treatment would happen in a non-gendered organization. Shriro is a highly educated woman with radical and liberal beliefs on how to better the prison system. The Phoenix Magazine also feminizes Shriro in their article when they talk about her love life and hobbies of planting flowers. I think this article itself is an example of the media sexualizing people, even if it is obviously talking about Shriro in good light. The “doing gender” is constantly around us, like when read about a tough and productive prison chief and then how she hopes to get married and likes to plant flowers. Britton writes, “men officers were to be officers in a paramilitary mold, and to serve primarily as enforcers, ready and able to use violence. Women, on the other hand, were to be mentors and surrogate mothers, guiding their wayward charges to rehabilitation”. This seems true in modern times as I read these articles. Shriro is a woman who focuses on rehabilitation and Fraley used her role as a mother to gain sympathy from her captors.

I do not really feel that the hostage situation at Lewis Prison reflect the conditions faced by guards described in the “From Turnkey to Officer” chapter. In that chapter, prison guards often lived at the prisons in not so good conditions, working many hours and only seeing their families a few times a week. Today, guards do not have to do that. However, the hostage situation is reflective of that because technically the condition of the tower was unsafe for the guards. It was too easy for the inmates to successfully break into the prison and take over. In addition, training for guards seems to lack the handling of this situation, and Fraley was basically left to figure it out on her own as she was forced to experience it.

A prison is a total institution because prisoners are subordinate to officers. There are clear hierarchies in this type of organization and it is one where people go and live out every moment of their lives. The prison system is a hegemonic system that puts white, male guards at the top and inmates at the bottom.

Britton’s recommendations to encourage more realistic portrayals of prison life would have been beneficial in this hostage situation. Training for guards needs to be catered to a more specific need. Men and women need to be prepared realistically with the different environments that exist between men’s and women’s prisons. Britton suggests practices that encourage defusing violence instead of reacting with further physical violence. Fraley proves this is true in her actions that led her safely out of the 15 day hostage situation. In addition, if more media stories covered the real-life stories of women prison guards, it would help to eliminate the negative stigma of women in this job. Britton also suggests that policies that lessen sex segregation should be implemented in the prison system.

Ultimately, I agree with what Britton suggests would improve the overall work experience and conditions of prison guards and hopefully with progressive changes, these improvements will continue to take place. A woman like Shriro as a prison chief is a large step, especially for Arizona, in reforming the prison system.

Blog #19

The video of Geena Davis speaking about her foundation “See Jane” was truly shocking. Geena Davis starts by talking a little bit about the movies she has been in that have encouraged women’s independency and women’s rights, films such as “A League of Their Own” and “Thelma and Louise”. She says that young girls find these films inspirational. For example, after “A League of Their Own” was released, young girls told her that the film encouraged them to do sports. Then Geena Davis talks about the media and the message that it is sending to young children. She compares cartoons from now to back when she was a child, and points out that there has been little change. She talks about the classic cartoon female characters such as, Minnie Mouse, Daisy Duck, Granny from Looney Tunes, and Smurfette. She tells the story of Smurfette and how it was not until she had Smurfette plastic surgery that the rest of the smurfs accepted her. These characters set a standard for how society believes women behave and how they should look. From a young age, female children become aware of their self image and that it should transform to what is accepted in the media. Cartoons are highly sexualized and stereotyped and the goal of See Jane is to reduce this gender stereotyping and increase the amount of female characters in film and television. In the study conducted by See Jane, it was found that 3 of 4 characters in G-rated films are male characters. The message that the media sends out is that women are worth less than men and that the self-worth is different. When Geena Davis brought the results of her study to media heads, they were unaware and shocked at the results.

This video is relative to what we have been reading in “At Work in the Iron Cage” because of the various ways that men and women view their roles as a corrections officer. Male colleagues in this field have a masculine attitude toward the ability to deal with violence and their dignity in the workplace. Male corrections officers are more prone to taking action and violence. Women officers use their communications skills and sensitivity to coping with obstacles at work. Women are more likely to listen and talk with the inmate while a man is more likely to be aggressive and forceful. This is an example of how people “do gender” in a prison system, as “doing gender” is something we are clearly taught from a young age, as pointed out by Geena Davis.

Blog #18

According to Britton, all prison officers are required to take the same training and tests in order to begin working. The same training applies to officers who work in men’s prisons and officers who work in women’s prisons. All employees complete refresher training in order to maintain their positions. Federal training is different from state training, as state training is less standardized. One officer interviewed by Britton believes that federal training is better than state training because they have better facilities and more money. However, most people feel that the real training happens on the job rather than the classroom.

The perceptions of the training received does not vary greatly between females and males. The training policies are gender-neutral which have still tended to perpetuate masculinity. Some white male guards have refused to train minorities or women. Britton argues that training also exaggerates the potential violence of the job because the programs are taught my guards who seek delight in telling horror stories about prison violence. Some people get scared and leave the program because of this. Because of this type of training, the occupational masculinity of the correctional officer is emphasized. Many men also are unsure of whether women can actually handle the job due to their lesser size and physical strength. Since our culture is a masculine one, it creates sexism in a supposedly neutral institution. Women face challenges that are not face by men such as, harassment by male inmates and resistance, exclusion, discrimination by male colleagues and supervisors (Britton p. 100). One woman officer feels that they should have a female officer as part of the training programs to tell the trainees what to really expect on the job. The training process is generally directed in scenarios where the officers are males and the inmates are males, which may cause the women to be less prepared for the job than men once the training is completed. Therefore, this type of training also leaves officers unprepared for working in a women’s prison, which tend to be very different from men’s prisons. Dealing with women inmates is very different from dealing with male inmates and officers are unprepared for this. Also, the skills it takes to deal with women inmates are often unnoticed and unappreciated. The generic standard of training is men’s institutions with male inmates (Britton p. 104). So while these training programs are intended to be neutral, they ultimately reinforce the masculinity of the job by failing to acknowledge the reality of the job and the various situations for which people may be working it.

Blog #17

The NBC video, “Lockup - Inside North Carolina Women s Prison par NBC News Specials”, was extremely interesting. The inside look of the women’s prison shows what it is like to live a life as a prisoner as well as a prison guard. There are over 1100 prisoners at this women’s prison. The female inmates are in this prison for various offenses ranging from robbery to murder. It seems like many of the women who are in prison for murder are women who killed their boyfriends or husbands in domestic violence cases.

In the beginning of the documentary, a few officers talk about their job at the prison. One man guard talks about how he has to be there to maintain security and not to make friends with the prisoners. He has to be accompanied by another woman when he takes women back to their cells so that he cannot take advantage of the prisoners or be accused of taking advantage of them. One woman officer talks about how she will listen to the inmates because sometimes that is all they want but other times she has to write them up and enforce her authority. Some of the women can be violent towards each other or the officers but these officers are trained to handle these situations. The officers feel happy when they know that a prisoner is released and that they end up doing well. One officers says that she knows some people probably will not end up coming back, while others probably will. The warden of this prison says that people have to understand that to get respect you have to give respect, so she trains the guards to treat the prisoners so that they can maintain their human values but that they need to know they have a responsibility to serve time for the crimes they have committed. In the segregation unit, women are locked in 8x8 cells for 23 hours a day and are seen by mental health staff. In this unit the officers sometimes have to take everything out of the prisoners cell so that they do not try to kill themselves. In this area of the prison, many of the prisoners are violent and some assaults are experience by the guards. When these inmates do get to go outside, they use the time to communicate with others and exercise. Maximum security inmates are only allowed to take two 15 minute showers, twice a week. The inmates can read or draw. One inmate was not even allowed to see her child while she was dying in the hospital.

Another interesting aspect of the show is the relationships that the prisons develop while inside. Many of the prisoners engage in lesbian relationships, either because it is their sexual preference or because it makes it easier for them to survive inside. One girl talks about how she would get into relationships with women with the sole purpose of hustling them. Now she is in a new relationship and she does not do that anymore. Many women seek emotional support and comfort from the relationships they establish inside. Having a girlfriend makes them feel like they are cared for. One relationship shows a lesbian couple that was separated when one of the women had to go into isolation for a fight. It proved to be very difficult for these two to be away from each other for so long as they were not allowed to see or speak to each other. One of the women in this relationship was going to get out in 8 months and told NBC that she would likely come back because she did not want to be away from her girlfriend and would not be able to survive without her. One lesbian groups describes how they will create distractions so that a couple can have a few moments of intimacy with each other, since having sex in the prison is penalized.

The film also shows first time offenders getting booked. The process of fingerprinting, the strip search, etc. takes over six hours, and then the prisoners are escorted to the dorms. The dorms are crowded and hot. The prison offers various vocational training programs for the inmates such as cosmetology, making denchers, culinary arts, etc. and by doing this the women feel that they are able to take these learned skills and apply them to life when they are released.

Overall, I found it shocking that the maximum security prisoners are kept in such small cells for the majority of the day and it seemed wrong to me. But I guess if these prisoners are a problem to other prisoners than that is what must be done. Still, it seems that they should at least get to go outside for longer than an hour to exercise or simply see the light of day. It seems like it would be easy for anyone to go crazy if you had to spend that much time in a tiny cell by yourself. It also seems wrong that the women cannot be released if a loved one has died. I did think it was really amazing that the jail offers so many programs for the prisoners to learn skills that they can use on the outside after they are released. I think it is an extremely productive thing to have programs like that that boost the morale of the prisoners so they feel like they do not have to go back to committing crimes. One story I found particularly shocking was the one about the ex-prison guard who is now an inmate for killing her husband. She got life without parole because she killed him and tried to make it look like a suicide. The stories of the prisoners and the guards were all very exciting and informative to listen to.

Blog #16 - Pathways

In Chapter 4 of “At Work in the Iron Cage” Britton writes that most individuals do not start out in life aspiring to become prison guards or correctional officers. Britton writes that most people find out by chance that they enjoy this kind of work. However, criminology and criminal justice majors are now among the most popular in American universities. Britton describes that for men, the model category of previous work experience is military service. The most common previous employment for women is clerical work. Thirty-seven percent of women in law enforcement had worked in clerical positions while no men had this kind of previous work experience. The other previous job experiences that women have also have no correlation to working correctional work. Most women are pulled into this career through circumstances, personal contact, and opportunities (Britton 87). Some women have compared their jobs as correctional officers as babysitters or mothers. The actual tasks of the correctional officers are often those of a mother, including supervising dressing, bathing and eating inmates. Women’s prior experience in managing people gives them an advantage in this career. Social networking is important to women getting into these types of careers because they would likely not think about doing something like this until someone they know mentions it to them. Social networking is hugely important because it provides opportunities that we might not have access to otherwise.Pay and benefits are two reasons why both men and women become correctional officers. As a federal corrections officer, a person must have a bachelor’s degree or three years of related experience. In the state system a high school diploma is required or a GED. Where prisons are located, in rural areas, there are less opportunities for high-paying jobs and the prison systems offer a higher salary compared to other jobs in the area. The benefits package for working for the government are usually very good and are another cause for people moving into this career. Many divorced women look at this job as a good source of security and support for their families. One woman who was interviewed doubled her pay after getting a job as a corrections officer after she got divorced. All officers are required to complete formal training before starting work.

Blog #15 - History of Men's and Women's Prisons

The prison system emerged as a result of industrialization and a rising free market economy that dramatically increased the wealth of some groups while worsening the poverty of others (Britton p. 24). There were rising rates of property crime. Early prison institutions contained all types of people; men, women, children, and the insane. From the beginning of the prison system, they have disproportionately held inmates of racial and ethnic groups and the poor (Britton p. 25). Two basic prison models existed in the early 1800’s, the Auburn plan and the Pennsylvania style. Under the Auburn plan, inmates worked during the day and confined to individual cells at night, while being completely silent. Both organizations organized their discipline around three central elements of separation, obedience, and labor. During this time, women criminals were “unlike their male counterparts, were beyond redemption, by nature corrupt, and outside the reach of the disciplinary regime of the penitentiary (Britton p. 27). Women were initially housed alongside men in the Auburn style prison and were kept in overcrowded, unventilated attics and were not allowed outside for work or exercise. Instead of doing manual labor, women were made to sew. Many scandals of inmates getting pregnant and having sexual relationships (which the women were held responsible for), occurred during this time and eventually separate facilities were established. Many of these prisons were run by a matron rather than a warden. Rehabilitative programs were not enforced fully until the late 19th century during the Reformatory movement. Separate institutions were justified under this movement because exploitation of women prisoners could be prevented and the opportunities for rehabilitation for both men and women enhanced. Currently, prisons lack rehabilitative ideology.

In Arizona, according to the state by state analysis, we are 7th ranked most punitive state for female imprisonment states. Imprisonment rates are rising dramatically, with a 62% growth rate between 1999-2004. Arizona’s history of prisons is similar to the history described in “At Work in the Iron Cage” because many of its first prisons contained both men and women. Many prisoners labored in Arizona prisons today much as they did in the beginning.

Blog #14 - Gendered Organization

The theory of gendered organization is that men and women hold different jobs, and the jobs women hold pay less than those that men occupy. Also, even when men and women are in the same occupation, women still make les (Britton p. 5). Britton uses this theory to frame her research by interviewing various women prison guards and why these gendered organizations exist, specifically within the prison system. By “doing gender”, men and women obtain different jobs or handle situations in the same job differently. For instance, one woman in “At Work in the Iron Cage” discusses how she uses her femininity to get the inmates to cooperate with her. By being sensitive and “fragile” as a woman, she knows that she can work these “female traits” to her advantage.

Structure, agency, and culture are interlinked in the process of organization gendering. Structure is the division between the public and private life of individuals. “Most modern work organizations presume that the labor involved in day-to-day reproduction of their workers may be relegated to the private realm, thus enacting a rigid separation between the work lives of their employees and such activities as childbirth, child care, sexuality, eating and sleeping (Acker 1992). While some employees provide benefits for these private needs they are often viewed as extra and women are frequently left with the responsibility of balancing both private and public spheres. The private and public spheres idea is a gendered one because of this. Women are often having to figure out ways to provide child care while they work, as we have learned in the previous unit. Many women work in clerical positions as a result since they rely on having a more flexible career. The woman’s nearly sole responsibility of family management prevents her from accepting promotions, working overtime, location transfers, and other opportunities that allow the employee to move up the hierarchical ladder at work. Labor laws and practices have had to be modified in order to accommodate these private life needs. Gendering through culture occurs through our social standard and the media. Films, TV shows, books, and various other sources of entertainment and media show men and women performing different roles. “The military, for example, has traditionally been viewed as a place where boys are turned into men, and this image has been reinforced ad nauseam in literally hundreds of war movies (Britton p. 12). Men are often viewed as solving issues through violence while “women police officers emphasize the benefits of defusing conflict” (Britton p. 14). Agency reinforces gendered organizations because they allow people to see themselves as appropriately gendered through their work. For instance, unions that are created to protect a gender right perpetuates gender inequality, even if that is not the intention.

Blog #13

The images of prison guards and correctional officers in the media are vastly different from reality. Britton writes that most prison guards are seen as “a hulking man in a uniform carrying a nightstick or even a gun.” The images of prisons and prison guards are largely gendered and inaccurate. In reality, correctional officers are always unarmed. These images reflect society’s ideas about gender and that violence is connected with masculinity. “Violence is closely tied to hegemonic forms of masculinity that to be a ‘real man’ is…to know how to use violence and to be willing to do so under appropriate circumstances.” (Britton p. 2). The image of the prison guard or correctional officer is one of masculinity and it is not common that women are encouraged to aspire to this type of career. “At work in the Iron Cage” also discusses how people view the prison guard by using examples of jobs that are commonly desirable to children. Britton talks about how it would be seen as worrisome if a small child were to say that he wanted to grow up to be a prison guard, and even more so out of the ordinary for a female child. The context of women in prisons shifts dramatically from that of men. There are few films that show women as being able to successfully manage prisoners and the majority of prison films involving women are sexual. “By mid-2002, there had been 91 “women’s prison” movies released as compared with 657 prison films (Britton p. 13). Women are also pushed into more clerical positions within the prison while men are responsible for handling the prisons. There are some differences between the images of male correctional officers in male prisons than those in female prisons. The men’s prisons are depicted as extremely violent while the women’s prisons are depicted as extremely sexual. In addition, female criminals were viewed by penologists and criminologists as much worse than male criminals (Britton p. 29). Men are considered the appropriate guardians for women criminals according to popular media. In today’s media, it is more common to see female police officers or prison guards, but the area remains predominantly one for men.

Occupational Segregation

Occupational segregation is the concept that some careers are “men’s careers” while other careers are “women’s careers”. Britton writes, “occupational segregation, that is, men and women are in different jobs, and the jobs women hold pay less, on average, than those that men occupy.” (p. 5). Occupational segregation has been cited as one of the primary factors contributing to women’s poverty and low-earnings. In addition, even when men and women do hold the same jobs, women are often paid less. Some explanations exist for why occupational segregation still exists. For instance, women tend to occupy the lowest rungs of the occupational ladder. Men and women are constantly “doing gender” by exercising practices that they have built on the notions of men and women. Men and women act with gendered characteristics and because we “do gender” this effects our job choices. Women often choose careers that will have more flexible hours so that they can balance their family lives. Britton writes how many women are not promoted to administrative positions because they often do not want the added responsibility of taking on more tasks and balancing a family. Social factors that contribute to occupational segregation would definitely be the notion that the woman is supposed to manage her children. Women are disadvantaged by having the responsibility of ensuring that the children have a place to go for care and often choose flexible jobs that will be understanding of those needs. Domestic responsibilities surely make it more difficult for women to become equal to men in occupational settings. Institutional factors include the idea that some jobs are for women. For instance, Britton writes, “Women paralegals for example, are often required to ‘mother’ attorneys, soothing their egos in the event of a loss in court, smoothing over the interpersonal conflicts they cause, and remaining calm even in the face of spectacularly bad behavior.” (p 17). I completely agree with this based on my own experience as a paralegal to three attorneys. I felt like I was constantly being someone’s mother and it was very difficult and frustrating at times. It was also how you were "expected" to be, so it was not seen as skill or appreciated within an office setting. One source offers an alternative of nontraditional careers as a pathway to escaping occupational segregation. Women gain certain advantages by entering male dominated occupations, such as, closing the gap of inequality. Women are also able to use their gendered skills to their advantage at times. Britton writes of a woman who used her skills as a woman to convince male inmates to cooperate with her more easily. Men gain by women entering into a male dominated occupation because they often do not receive equal benefits and, as mentioned earlier, men are much more likely to be promoted.