UNIT C - Blog 20

The hostage situation in Arizona reflects Brittons study because the hostage situation shows lack of training in the prisons. In the Phoenix Magazine coverage Dora Schriro says that when she started at the Lewis prison she noticed that the officers lacked training and proper equipment. She noticed that there wasn't even a layout of the tower located anywhere during the crisis and some other much needed tools weren't there when she needed it in order to get officers out alive in 2004. Britton talks about men and women being properly trained in corrections so that they are fully aware of each others needs and can know how to defend themselves. It's important that men know what kinds of things women go through and also women should know what kinds of things men go through so that they are capable of understanding each other and can maybe get along better. The whole hostage situation was very unfortunate and even though the prison lacked structure when Schriro started at that prison she still managed to get her officers out safely. Officer Fraley even admitted she left the Department of Corrections because the lack of training but once she heard what Dora Schriro wanted to do in order to improve the conditions of the prison and the officers she immediately came back to work for her because even she knew they all needed proper training for once. These prison conditions are ridiculous and if they would of had better security and training then maybe the 2004 incident at Lewis prison wouldn't of happened.

Prisons are gendered organizations because they stereotype with men and women. They will purposely put women in non confrontational situations such as guarding a door or working the kitchen so that they aren't in a situation that might be harmful to them. Men don't even want women officers as their backup because they feel that if an attack were to occur from an inmate that a woman couldn't properly help protect them against harm. Men usually are the ones that hold supervisor positions not women because men feel they are the proper candidates for authority positions and they feel masculinity is what keeps prisons strong and under control. Women can hold just as much power as a man and just because women don't have massive bulging muscles doesn't mean they can't hold their own and take out an inmate.

The hostage situation in Arizona reflects Brittons discussion of keepers and turnkeys because Britton talks about there being a lack of discipline and how riots and escapes and assaults would break out and an escape and take over is what happened in the hostage situation in Arizona. The fact that officer Jason Auld opened up the door of the tower without properly identifying the so called officer shows lack of discipline and training. An officer should properly identify another officer and just because they have the uniform on doesn't mean they are who they seem to be. Prison is a total institution because anything and everything under the prisons power is being controlled by the prison and authority that works for the prison. Inmates are being controlled and told what to do and are supposed to abide by all the rules and the workers and officers of the prisons have to follow specific rules as well and follow through with everything they're told. Officers depend on the prison and it's security to keep them safe from inmates and to protect them from harm and they depend on specific training so they are ready for any situation that might occur. Inmates also depend on prisons for their shelter and are fed certain times of the day and let out at certain times therefore they are being controlled constantly by the prison.

I think Brittons recommendation at the end of the book would have been useful towards preventing the hostage take over because he suggests better training tactics, learning how to deal with violence, enforcing strict rules would have also helped this situation because the prison was obviously unstructured and unstable when this hostage take over happened. I think the officers became lazy and felt too comfortable and maybe if rules were regulated on them and they were trained properly every month or year then they could have been better prepared for a situation like this.

UNIT C - Blog 19

After watching the video from Democracy Now I now realize how women weren't really included that much when it came to characters on cartoons. In this video Geena Davis brings up the Looney Tunes and how the only female character was Granny which was Tweety birds owner. The only way that Tweety would begin his antics was when Granny left so she really wasn't seen that much on the show. Also Minnie Mouse and Daisy Duck were female characters on Disney but they weren't really seen that much and weren't really needed for anything since they just pranced around in tiny outfits worrying about shopping. Female characters didn't really show much significance and the media acted like female characters weren't needed in order to bring the shows to life and this can portray an image to children that women aren't important in society. It might seem ridiculous to some people because this is only a cartoon we are talking about but many people don't realize how much these cartoons shape the lives of children. Children are impressionable and often mock what they see and if little boys see shows that only have male characters they could grow up thinking men are more important than women and little girls might grow up feeling inferior to men.

The media also has a major influence on adults and how they are perceived in their work environments. The media depicts women on shows and movies to be inferior to men alot of the time and this could make some men believe they are better than their female workers and might talk down to them on the job or treat them differently because they are under the impression that the men should hold authority and be held at a higher standard than women.

In chapter seven Britton talks about male officers and how they dealt with their dignity and violence. Male officers have to prove themselves in order to get the respect of fellow employees, especially supervisors. Male officers have to stir up trouble, beat up inmates to show them who's boss or help out other officers or save their lives in order to show they are worth the other officers time. If they act like cowards and don't prove themselves then they are basically seen as nothing in the other employees eyes. Some actions women take to prove gender identity is among them in the workplace is by the way they are assigned in the prisons. In Brittons book it is said that the female officers aren't allowed to strip search men or overlook the mens showers because other workers are afraid that the women will be sexually assaulted. This shows gender identity because men are just as likely to be sexually assaulted as women and even if women are assaulted it seems as if the other male officers don't think they are strong enough to defend themselves. One female officer said they the women officers are usually put in building security where they are constantly around other males in case something bad were to happen, this seems like these females aren't trusted to be alone and they are treated as if they are children and can't be left alone for even a second. Trust seems to be a big issue with these officers because they don't even feel safe having a woman officer as their back up, they prefer a man because they think men are stronger.

UNIT C - Blog 17

In Brittons findings and the NBC documentary called "Lockup - Inside North Carolina Women's Prison" there were many similarities. In the documentary and Brittons book they both talked about inmates and prison officers having relationships. When inmates and officers become close this can pose danger for the officer because they can become attached and possibly put too much trust into the inmate causing the inmate to take advantage of the officer. In the documentary one women spoke about becoming emotionally and sexually close with an officer just to get certain things from the officer such as money and she used the officers to get what she wanted which could initially hurt the officer emotionally and they might not be able to perform their duties properly. It's possible to become too emotionally involved because an officer might not be in their right state of mind and might overlook certain things such as security and a prisoner could get out or maybe pick up something harmful and hurt another officer or inmate which could lead to the death of someone. Britton talked about this as well and talked about correctional officers "who had 'gone too far' and become sexually involved with inmates or who were coerced into supplying contraband" (Britton, pg. 107). This is a reason why getting too close with an inmate can be dangerous. You have to set boundaries and realize what your job is and it isn't about being friends with these inmates it's about watching over them and being aware of your surroundings because you can get caught up in the drama and risk your life and your job.

The general assumption officers have of inmates are basically gender based. But in Brittons book they either viewed inmates as humans or animals. Most officers understood that these inmates are human and make mistakes and have feelings but others just see them as vicious animals that deserve their punishments and don't feel remorse for what they've done and will probably just commit more crimes once they are out of prison. One officer spoke about inmates and said he understood that they were bad people but once he got to know them in prison they were human and weren't bad to him so he didn't see them as awful people. This officer also spoke about other officers who hate inmates and go out of their way to give these inmates a hard time but he didn't feel it was necessary to waste energy and being mean to an inmate who's done nothing to him to begin with.

The difference that the African American and Latino officers faced was racial problems. These officers are already part of the minority and when they have to control other minorities in prison they feel confused about it. They feel a small connection with these minorities because they understand where they are coming from and how discrimination affects them as a person but they also know they are an officer and have to abide by the rules which means going along with the other white officers who are seen as enemies in the prisoners eyes. They are put in a tough spot because they don't want to seem like bad officers by abiding by the rules and regulations of the prison even if they are discriminatory but they have to or they'll lose their job and by doing this they might be looked down upon by the inmates. The language of the overseer is "the denial of ones own racial identity or the active construction and reproduction of other markers of difference" (Britton, pg 111-112). Basically someone has to ignore their own race and racial problems they might face in order to get their job done. If they see a prisoner is treated differently compared to other inmates based on race they have to ignore this in order to properly get their job done. They basically have to turn the other cheek and continue on with their day because if they get too involved in these disparities this could cause a riot and cause problems with their own job. One woman officer said that she's programmed to think that these inmates are beneath her so at work she acts this way but personally this isn't how she thinks of these people. Her job makes her think this way therefore she has to act that way in order to do her work throughout the day.

Some of these officers express humanistic attitudes and this can objectify or infantilize the inmates because they start to play the parent role instead of the officer/guard role which they are initially supposed to do. By playing the parent they treat these inmates as children and aren't technically doing their job. Their job isn't to tell these inmates what to do with their life or what's right or wrong in their life and by doing this they might become too involved and lose focus with their job.

UNIT C - Blog 15

Women in prison has increased over the years and the rise of the womens prison population has been growing at a rapid rate far beyond the rate the mens population accrual. Women have been involved in more street crime and other crimes such as drugs and prostitution which lands them a spot in prison. With all the information read on this section I noticed that more men are involved in violent crime than women and more women are committing petty crimes or crimes that aren't considered violent. Throughout most of the fifty states the increase in prison populations has been more drastic with women because they are becoming more susceptible to crime and other illegal activities. It's true that male population has been increasing over time but at a much slower rate than women. The amount of women could be increasing depending on the state and how harsh they punish for certain crimes. Some states might be more strict on petty crimes and instead of "slapping" someones wrist and letting them go with a warning they might prefer throwing a woman in jail because they want to teach her a lesson therefore this increases prison populations and causes overgrowth which can create problems for prisons. If women keep increasing the prisons could run out of space and might have to build more prisons or cells in order to keep all these women in a safely run environment but it seems like complete chaos with an overgrowth in the female population. It seems like every year the amount of female prisoners is growing, it started out low and has kept growing until today in 2009. I think crime rates have risen making it easier for women to get involved in illegal activities and this throws them in jail. In table B it says that in 1977 Arizona had 15 as the rate of female imprisonment but in 2004 it rose to 89 which is proof that the rates are increasing drastically each year. Table A shows that in 1977 Arizona had 187 total female prisoners and in 2004 it rose to 2,545 which shows a huge increase in population.

UNIT C - Blog 21

When looking at the website for the National Association for Female Correctional and also what Britton had to say at the end of chapter seven in the book At Work In The Iron Cage, i noticed a few similarities. Britton focuses on change as a whole such as making the workplace a better environment based on equality within gender and race. Britton feels that everybody deserves proper training and resources when it comes to prison jobs, Britton feels that everybody should be trained on anything and everything that relates to this field, for example men need to be trained on women prisons and problems that can arise with female inmates and officers and that women should be trained on men prisons and what male officers and inmates face on a daily basis. Proper and equal training is what is needed to have a successful work environment because if any employee is unaware of a certain situation then they can be in great danger because they won't know what to do. On the website for the National Association for Female Correctional this organization mainly focuses on sexual assault and how this should be tackled. They want officers to be punished when they rape another female officer or when they know of a rape but fail to notify anybody about it. It seems like sexual assault is a huge factor with woman officers after I read a few things on this website and it's important that his is addressed as soon as possible because sexual assault is a serious issue. The last issue they said they wanted to accomplish was a grant for women to have access to safety equipment and to be trained on it so they can defend themselves properly. This made me nervous because it seems like there are women on the force that aren't capable of getting access to safety and self defense equipment which seems like something that should be mandatory in a police type job. With Britton and the website these seem like real issues that need to be tackled immediately so that women can feel safe in their own workplace and be equipped and trained for anything possible.

UNIT C - Blog 18

On the job training for correctional officers can become masculine because the videos presented to the groups show how harsh prison can be and how force needs to be used sometimes when handling prisoners. Training films can become quite violent and might scare off a woman because they may feel inferior to men because they don't possess huge muscles and strength and they may start to feel like this is a mans job not a woman's therefore creating a stereotype that women aren't able to handle this type of job when they very well can. For so many years men have been seen as take charge and are known to posses characteristics proving their masculinity and this can lead a woman to believe that they aren't qualified to be a police officer or corrections officer because they aren't strong enough to hold down an inmate or brave enough to shoot a gun but all they need to do is realize that no one job is solely for one gender. Nobody knows the skills they possess until they put themselves out there and try something out. A woman may look fragile on the outside but she could be a tiger on the inside and prover herself to be the best corrections officer out there. There is also a difference between men and women's prisons. In women's prisons the women seem to have a little bit more freedom than men and they seem to get away with a little more. In the PowerPoint slide it talked about how women use their tears as a way to take advantage of female officers because they know they are emotional and might give in to the women's needs. Women also seem to question officers more and give attitude because they know they can get away with it. In mens prisons they aren't known for talking back as much as women do because they don't get away with it. I think more force is put on the male prisons and they are stricter so the male inmates know who's boss and they don't necessarily try to play with the system or find loop holes with the officers. Women are more emotional human beings and they can use this towards their advantage and lure a woman officer to do what they want alot easier than a male can. I don't think that women trust men as much as they trust women because they have more in common with people of the same sex so they are more likely to be more flexible with the women inmates.

UNIT C - Post 16

The path towards becoming a correctional officer is gendered because women don't have to have much work experience to receive a job in this field and most of them came from clerical positions that didn't have the skills needed in order to be a corrections officer. Alot of men in this job had prior experience in the military and were somewhat experienced when it came to certain tactics and felt more secure and safe in the work environment. Since these women didn't have any prior police or corrections experience they often went into the job with fear because they were unsure of what went on in prisons. Most women had never even seen a prison first hand therefore had no idea what they were getting themselves into. Alot of people see that being a corrections officer pays a decent salary and they jump right on it because they want to receive a good paycheck and are amazed that they can do this with the lack of experience they have. However, men with diplomas or GED's were found to have higher salaries than women. While growing up, most women don't long for a job in corrections since this doesn't seem like the most luxurious atmosphere. I think some women actually like being a corrections officer and enjoy it but alot of women probably go for this type of career because they don't have many options. If they don't have any experience under their belt or never went to college then they can't really obtain a career that's higher up such as detective therefore they are stuck being a corrections officer because the experience is limited and really not required. Men however want to be in corrections. I think men feel this is a powerful job because they can control inmates and this makes them feel powerful and on top of the world. I think being in charge makes a man feel needed and manly so this job would appeal towards a man more than towards a woman. I feel social networks play a big part in job opportunities because the more people you know in the field the more likely you are able to get the position you want and probably much quicker. Since more men accompany correctional type positions then they are more likely to turn their focus on other men and would rather hire them for the positions since they are seen as stronger and more forceful therefore this is gendered and biased. Men also might feel threatened working with a woman who is doing the same type of work as them and they might feel inferior if the women were to do a much better job than them so they are least likely to help a woman get the job.

UNIT C - Blog 14

The theory of gendered organization is saying that organizations such as jobs or other types of facilities are structured based off of certain rules that are circled around gender. For example in a work environment that includes lawyers the male lawyers may have more flexible schedules and their boss might be more lenient with them because their men but when it comes to the women they may receive longer work schedules are more grueling cases because they are women. Gendered organizations can also be when mainly one sex forms the organization as a whole such as a police department that contains ninety percent men and ten percent women. In this case it is a male dominated environment and these men probably control the workplace giving the women not much voice or opinion at work. Some jobs have rules and regulations that are formed around men or may have masculine entities about them which may make a woman feel out of place if she were to work in a job that had these rules. In the book At Work in the Iron Cage the author talks about guards in a prison and said "the model guard was to be both officer and gentleman; the job is framed in specifically masculine terms. Administrators expected that only such a man could command the respect of those in charge" (Britton, pg. 54). This statement alone shows that certain jobs have an essence about them that is strictly formed around a man. This job is obviously male dominated and very masculine especially when it is said that these people only feel men deserve the respect of the people in charge. When Britton says "organizations are gendered at the level of structure" (Britton, pg 7) she is basically saying that organizations have structure and depending on what kind of structure they have then certain gender stereotypes or rules will occur. For example the company Molly Maids deal with cleaning and housework therefore you'd expect only women to apply and work for this company so their gendering would revolve around women and rules that apply towards women. This company might be more lenient towards children since most women have kids and they might be flexible with a woman's schedule that revolves around their child's school but if a man were to be in this type of job they may not even think to be lenient with him because usually men aren't the ones taking care of children. Hopefully this makes sense.

UNIT C - Blog 13

Media has portrayed the image that women are housewives and if they're not doing that then they should be in a job that requires them to cook and clean. In alot of sitcoms such as Everybody Loves Raymond, the wives are stay at home moms and have to juggle cleaning, cooking and taking care of the children while the men are out being the breadwinners for the household. Women seem to be looked at as delicate flowers that shouldn't be out doing hard labor when women are in fact capable of working any job they want even if it's a male dominated environment. I honestly don't think that I have seen any images of prison guards or correctional officers that have shown women in those positions. One of my friends is a correctional office and she's a female and my cousin is a female officer but other than knowing these two woman in policing jobs I don't really see any ads portraying women in these types of careers. On TV shows and movies I see men playing detective and police officer roles and if I see a woman on these shows she's usually at a desk working instead of out patrolling like the rest of the male officers. I think this puts out an image that women shouldn't be in this type of atmosphere because it's male dominated, or maybe that women aren't good enough to hold these types of jobs and i think this is demeaning towards women. In the media I don't ever see a woman in a job that requires them to be a leader, they always seem to be a follower. The media makes it seem like women aren't able to handle jobs of authority because of the stress and danger which isn't true at all. Women are hardly seen as detectives or chief of police and it's very rare to see them in a field such as the FBI, CIA or SWAT and it might be because these fields are more specialized and require advanced levels of training and the media doesn't want to show the world that women are capable of doing a "mans job". It seems as if the media doesn't want to portray women as adventurous, brave or take charge kind of ladies because this will show that women can do anything a man can do and if men see this they will feel less of a man or maybe weaker. With all this media attention focused on men as the hardcore go getter's, women might be a little timid to apply for jobs such as policing because they may feel like they aren't qualified since the media only show men partaking in these types of fields.