Being a correctional officer is an extremely hard and dangerous job, especially now a days. Within the past five years the numbers of correctional officers have been steadily decreasing while the number of incarcerated people has been steadily increasing. This is a problem because that means each correctional officer is in charge of more and more people yearly, which in turn causes more and more danger to them. Correctional officers are hard to come by because these men and women do not get paid enough for the mental and physical fatigue they go through daily. These officers go through mental fatigue such as racial name calling, depression, and sometimes suicidal thoughts. On the physical aspect, these men and women break up fights between inmates sometimes daily, as well as get into fights occasionally. It has also been known for correctional officers to be stabbed by inmates who have made homemade knives. This goes to show that a job as a correctional officer is very difficult, and even harder with the extremely low numbers of these officers. It is very easy to understand why these positions are hard to fill, and when they are filled why the workers quickly quit. It is also very difficult to have a family while being a correctional officer, with bringing anger and mental issues back home with you, ultimately ruining, or weakening relationships with loved ones. -LW789
Good point in bringing up home life among correctional officers and their loved ones. I agree that being a correctional officer is very challenging and, like most careers in the criminal justice system, it is a lifestyle more than a job. I think that some states are doing good by offering free counseling for officers, especially in the field of corrections. -Family789
The stories shared in this article are frightening but true in today's correctional age. Corrections officers spend a lot of time monitoring some of the most dangerous people on the planet in order to keep the everyday person safe. The Mississippi system is one of the most dangerous corrections systems in the country. With over 1,000 guards attacked each year due to low staffing, much attention has been drawn to the safety of officers while at work. A lot of the prisons in the south and west are understaffed. Most states in these regions do not have unions and the starting pay for correctional officers is about fifty percent lower than the northern regions. There has been no talk among local legislature to make any changes to the poor benefits of correctional work in the south. Due to the shortage of correctional officers, prisoners often take advantage of them, throwing urine and their own feces at the officers. Of the thirty three officers interviewed by the Marshall project, this practice called dashing, had occurred to all. One final scary point made in the article was the number of officers who suffered from PTSD. Many interviewed officers recounted horrific incidents that followed them into their daily lives and caused nightmares and PTSD. Much reform is needed in the area of correctional work in order to maintain order in prisons. -Family789
I think that it would be in the states best interest in either sending some prisoners in over crowded areas to a new location, or raise the fundraising and or pay for the correctional officers and facilities so that more people would work there causing the balance to even out a little bit unlike it is now. It's sad to see that many people are being hurt simply because there isn't enough people there to watch everyone all at one time, they are way outnumbered. -Cubs789
It’s surprising to me that with a job like this that there are not more people on the job at a time. In the first few sentences it was stated that only two guards were watching over 250 prisoners at one time. This ratio does not add up, with that many people needing watched, it would seem like you would need more than two guards to do so. It was also stated that over 340 prison guards were attacked on average every year since 2016, whether it was physically attacked, stabbed, sexually assaulted or “dashed” with around 115 of them causing a serious injury. In North Carolina 5 prison guards were killed due to the facility being understaffed. Many of these places are understaffed due to people not showing up to work, or quitting due to how dangerous the job is, and they don’t get paid that much for what they do. It’s stated that in a privately run prison in mississippi there were only 7 guards on duty when there should be 28 due to how many inmates they had there. And as more and more correctional officers quit their jobs it just leaves more and more inmates for those staying to watch which can lead to them being attacked due to them being outnumbered. -Cubs789
I agree, I do not think that I have ever actually realized how dangerous being in this profession can be. It also makes me ponder on why there is so few people guarding compared to how many people are in the facility. all the different things that happen really scare me honestly and I think is crazy. Sunshine789
When reading this article, for anyone really I feel that this article has really put a perspective in how dangerous working in jails can be and being in the profession can be. to me reading this and seeing this perspective it really surprises me that they do not have more "guards" watching over the inmates during a shift. And it makes me question if this is something that I actually want to do because honestly it can scary and extremely dangerous. It honestly i just surprising. it is sad that this is how the correctional system today works. correctional officer professions have slowly decreased because of the intensity of their jobs.Sunshine789
I agree with you, regarding the low numbers of guards in the correctional facilities. This is the biggest issue, in my opinion, when it comes to the correctional system. There is no way to insure safety of correctional officers when one officer is watching over twenty plus prisoners by their selves. I understand that a correctional officer is not a largely desired profession, but I believe the criminal justice system needs to figure out a way to either get more correctional officers, or find safer ways for the few correctional officers to watch over prisoners. -LW789
This article was extremely sad on both ends. Here you have correctional officers that only want to do a good job and also to help those in prisons. But, with having no stability to fall back on, how are they supposed to do that. Then, also you have the prisoners that are constantly locked up because there is not enough staff to guard ratio, or they are not getting the nessesary nurishment that is needed in a day's time. Obviously when you have these conditions and you are the one living in the prison behind bars and/or you are afraid of the other prisoners in the prison, tension and aggression meet there climax. And, if the prisoners see that they are out numbering the correctional officers, they will strike back to get what they want. Honestly, it's all sorts of stressful. You have officers that are over worked and fear for their life every time they go into the prison, and you have angry resentfull prisoners who all they want is to be respected and treated right. The guards have to try and hold their own and appear hard to show the prisoners that they will not stand for their misbehavior. But, when one guard is in control of 20 prisoners at a time because of short staff, that is a huge risk to take. And, the pay isn't even worth it! So, I completely understand how the staff at the prisons are short staffed. No one wants to put their life at risk. So, with this knowledge presented and they know the rates and issues, the system of the state as a whole needs to get in there and start from scratch. We know the issues, so how do we fix it. It's not even how much you pay the officers, it's how the prison is run in a whole.
I agree that this article is sad on both ends. Not only are the correctional officers suffering but so are the inmates. They probably feel like caged animals. Having prison lockdowns for 24 hours or more is dehumanizing to the inmates so they feel like they have no other choice than to act out. -Jwilliejack789
After reading this article I have a new kind of respect for the people working at correctional facilities. Especially the ones working in prison systems like the one in Mississippi. The fact that these officers are going into working to supervise people who need that are not keeping it is just downright brave. In this article there are a lot of incidents where officers are getting attacked and humiliated. They are not just fighting these prisoners for their lives but for their mental insanity. Officers are being attacked and being left scared for life. This is all happening because they are being outnumbered because the people running these prisons do not want to raise their salaries. But they are expecting these problems to change. This is not happening in every state though but in some states it is. -Jwilliejack789
I agree that the guards who are working in these prisons especially those that are working at short staffed prisons are incredibly brave. It is very taxing on the guards not only physically and mentally. The people running the prison don’t care about the guards running their prison or the inmates. Slim 789
I knew prisons were a very dangerous place to work but reading this article really opened my eyes as to all of the problems that prison guards face on a daily basis. Corrections officers just want to do their jobs to the best of their abilities, but with these prisons being short staffed it just can not be done. With it being so dangerous for short staffed prisons the guards who are there quit because of the danger of being short staffed. It is all just a vicious cycle with no end. It also doesn't help that the legislators refuse to do anything about the prison conditions. With all of the dangers that face the prison guards it is no surprise that the guards are very susceptible to mental health problems such as depression, post traumatic stress disorder, divorce, and alcoholism. Slim 789
Being a correctional officer is an extremely hard and dangerous job, especially now a days. Within the past five years the numbers of correctional officers have been steadily decreasing while the number of incarcerated people has been steadily increasing. This is a problem because that means each correctional officer is in charge of more and more people yearly, which in turn causes more and more danger to them. Correctional officers are hard to come by because these men and women do not get paid enough for the mental and physical fatigue they go through daily. These officers go through mental fatigue such as racial name calling, depression, and sometimes suicidal thoughts. On the physical aspect, these men and women break up fights between inmates sometimes daily, as well as get into fights occasionally. It has also been known for correctional officers to be stabbed by inmates who have made homemade knives. This goes to show that a job as a correctional officer is very difficult, and even harder with the extremely low numbers of these officers. It is very easy to understand why these positions are hard to fill, and when they are filled why the workers quickly quit. It is also very difficult to have a family while being a correctional officer, with bringing anger and mental issues back home with you, ultimately ruining, or weakening relationships with loved ones. -LW789
ReplyDeleteGood point in bringing up home life among correctional officers and their loved ones. I agree that being a correctional officer is very challenging and, like most careers in the criminal justice system, it is a lifestyle more than a job. I think that some states are doing good by offering free counseling for officers, especially in the field of corrections. -Family789
DeleteThe stories shared in this article are frightening but true in today's correctional age. Corrections officers spend a lot of time monitoring some of the most dangerous people on the planet in order to keep the everyday person safe. The Mississippi system is one of the most dangerous corrections systems in the country. With over 1,000 guards attacked each year due to low staffing, much attention has been drawn to the safety of officers while at work. A lot of the prisons in the south and west are understaffed. Most states in these regions do not have unions and the starting pay for correctional officers is about fifty percent lower than the northern regions. There has been no talk among local legislature to make any changes to the poor benefits of correctional work in the south. Due to the shortage of correctional officers, prisoners often take advantage of them, throwing urine and their own feces at the officers. Of the thirty three officers interviewed by the Marshall project, this practice called dashing, had occurred to all. One final scary point made in the article was the number of officers who suffered from PTSD. Many interviewed officers recounted horrific incidents that followed them into their daily lives and caused nightmares and PTSD. Much reform is needed in the area of correctional work in order to maintain order in prisons. -Family789
ReplyDeleteI think that it would be in the states best interest in either sending some prisoners in over crowded areas to a new location, or raise the fundraising and or pay for the correctional officers and facilities so that more people would work there causing the balance to even out a little bit unlike it is now. It's sad to see that many people are being hurt simply because there isn't enough people there to watch everyone all at one time, they are way outnumbered. -Cubs789
DeleteIt’s surprising to me that with a job like this that there are not more people on the job at a time. In the first few sentences it was stated that only two guards were watching over 250 prisoners at one time. This ratio does not add up, with that many people needing watched, it would seem like you would need more than two guards to do so. It was also stated that over 340 prison guards were attacked on average every year since 2016, whether it was physically attacked, stabbed, sexually assaulted or “dashed” with around 115 of them causing a serious injury. In North Carolina 5 prison guards were killed due to the facility being understaffed. Many of these places are understaffed due to people not showing up to work, or quitting due to how dangerous the job is, and they don’t get paid that much for what they do. It’s stated that in a privately run prison in mississippi there were only 7 guards on duty when there should be 28 due to how many inmates they had there. And as more and more correctional officers quit their jobs it just leaves more and more inmates for those staying to watch which can lead to them being attacked due to them being outnumbered. -Cubs789
ReplyDeleteI agree, I do not think that I have ever actually realized how dangerous being in this profession can be. It also makes me ponder on why there is so few people guarding compared to how many people are in the facility. all the different things that happen really scare me honestly and I think is crazy. Sunshine789
DeleteWhen reading this article, for anyone really I feel that this article has really put a perspective in how dangerous working in jails can be and being in the profession can be. to me reading this and seeing this perspective it really surprises me that they do not have more "guards" watching over the inmates during a shift. And it makes me question if this is something that I actually want to do because honestly it can scary and extremely dangerous. It honestly i just surprising. it is sad that this is how the correctional system today works. correctional officer professions have slowly decreased because of the intensity of their jobs.Sunshine789
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, regarding the low numbers of guards in the correctional facilities. This is the biggest issue, in my opinion, when it comes to the correctional system. There is no way to insure safety of correctional officers when one officer is watching over twenty plus prisoners by their selves. I understand that a correctional officer is not a largely desired profession, but I believe the criminal justice system needs to figure out a way to either get more correctional officers, or find safer ways for the few correctional officers to watch over prisoners. -LW789
DeleteThis article was extremely sad on both ends. Here you have correctional officers that only want to do a good job and also to help those in prisons. But, with having no stability to fall back on, how are they supposed to do that. Then, also you have the prisoners that are constantly locked up because there is not enough staff to guard ratio, or they are not getting the nessesary nurishment that is needed in a day's time. Obviously when you have these conditions and you are the one living in the prison behind bars and/or you are afraid of the other prisoners in the prison, tension and aggression meet there climax. And, if the prisoners see that they are out numbering the correctional officers, they will strike back to get what they want. Honestly, it's all sorts of stressful. You have officers that are over worked and fear for their life every time they go into the prison, and you have angry resentfull prisoners who all they want is to be respected and treated right. The guards have to try and hold their own and appear hard to show the prisoners that they will not stand for their misbehavior. But, when one guard is in control of 20 prisoners at a time because of short staff, that is a huge risk to take. And, the pay isn't even worth it! So, I completely understand how the staff at the prisons are short staffed. No one wants to put their life at risk. So, with this knowledge presented and they know the rates and issues, the system of the state as a whole needs to get in there and start from scratch. We know the issues, so how do we fix it. It's not even how much you pay the officers, it's how the prison is run in a whole.
ReplyDeleteabove statement by Pitbull#789
DeleteI agree that this article is sad on both ends. Not only are the correctional officers suffering but so are the inmates. They probably feel like caged animals. Having prison lockdowns for 24 hours or more is dehumanizing to the inmates so they feel like they have no other choice than to act out. -Jwilliejack789
DeleteAfter reading this article I have a new kind of respect for the people working at correctional facilities. Especially the ones working in prison systems like the one in Mississippi. The fact that these officers are going into working to supervise people who need that are not keeping it is just downright brave. In this article there are a lot of incidents where officers are getting attacked and humiliated. They are not just fighting these prisoners for their lives but for their mental insanity. Officers are being attacked and being left scared for life. This is all happening because they are being outnumbered because the people running these prisons do not want to raise their salaries. But they are expecting these problems to change. This is not happening in every state though but in some states it is. -Jwilliejack789
ReplyDeleteI agree that the guards who are working in these prisons especially those that are working at short staffed prisons are incredibly brave. It is very taxing on the guards not only physically and mentally. The people running the prison don’t care about the guards running their prison or the inmates. Slim 789
DeleteI knew prisons were a very dangerous place to work but reading this article really opened my eyes as to all of the problems that prison guards face on a daily basis. Corrections officers just want to do their jobs to the best of their abilities, but with these prisons being short staffed it just can not be done. With it being so dangerous for short staffed prisons the guards who are there quit because of the danger of being short staffed. It is all just a vicious cycle with no end. It also doesn't help that the legislators refuse to do anything about the prison conditions. With all of the dangers that face the prison guards it is no surprise that the guards are very susceptible to mental health problems such as depression, post traumatic stress disorder, divorce, and alcoholism. Slim 789
ReplyDelete