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.