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.