Blog #18

On the job training for correctional officers involved mostly hands-on physical training given by other officers of which mostly were male. Both men and women were required to pass the same tests therefore one could argue that it is therefore gender neutral but is it really when it is clearly evident that a female officer’s physique could pose potential limitations when compared to her male counterparts. In the training officers are taught to handle the worse case scenarios involving violence and violence is perceived as the means that men use to express emotion whereas women show emotion through tears. Again, this is reinforcing the masculinity of the prison institution. The exclusion of sexual harassment material in the curriculum is further indicative that it is assumed to be gendered towards female officers and because the institution is supposedly gender-neutral, it is not addressed although both male and female officers (female more so than male) are at risk.
Interestingly, both male and female correctional officers in Britton’s study expressed their preference for working in male prisons because they considered women to be too “emotional” and deceiving-again reinforcing the masculine effect of the prison. Women were also considered to be too picky or that they complained about nonsense whereas the complaints of the male prisoners were interpreted to be more “legitimate.”
The fact that the female prisoners had a preference for dealing with the opposite sex demonstrates that the training that they received not only desensitized them, but it trained them to not sympathize with the prisoners even if they could relate to their own necessities as a woman. Female and male prison guards alike were simply trained to view themselves as an authority figure and to act accordingly otherwise it would jeopardize their safety. As a woman, one might attempt to be more aggressive in order to appear authoritative, but is it necessary? I don’t think so. One of the female prisoners in the documentary told the reporter that they only receive one roll of toilet paper per week. Now if the woman menstruates, how is one roll of toilet paper supposed to last an entire week?! Why are pregnant women forced to sleep on two inch mattresses? It infuriates me to see things going on like this and personally, I think the correctional officer job needs to be reformed so that people working the job are required to be more adequately educated and qualified to deal with what one day may be themselves (the prison guard that shot her husband and is now serving a life time sentence without parole.)