Jen is a woman in her early 30′s who worked for several years as a correctional officer at a facility in the Midwest. She worked in a different state than I do. (I have never worked in her correctional system.) Eventually she left to pursue other interests. I interviewed her because I know her personally.
Please keep in mind that the following is a personal account of her experiences. Other current and former correctional officers’ answers to the following questions might vary considerably. Also keep in mind that I can attest to the character of Jen. She is a strong-willed, conscientious, hard-working, caring person. She is not one to cry foul or complain if nothing seriously wrong occurred. I was surprised by some of the answers she gave to my questions. The interview occurred by phone on 3/21/10.
Photo by cop4cbt
What type of facility did you work in?
A medium security all-male facility.
What did you like about the work? Continue reading »
It was interesting to hear the stories of the offenders. But it was sad to hear their stories, too. Sometimes you can help them because they don’t have anyone to talk to. A lot of them didn’t have any visitors or anyone else in their lives. Not all of them had done horrible things. They weren’t all bad people. They came from different worlds and many had gone through difficult life experiences and had to do whatever possible to survive. It helped me appreciate my life more. The benefits of the job were also very good.
It may surprise some people to hear that not all inmates, not even the ones who see psychiatrists, have difficulty coping with incarceration. Certainly some do, but many others are more stressed about family/relationship issues, financial problems, or the prospect of being unemployed felons upon release. Some inmates have found positive approaches to incarceration that make it less stressful and more productive while others struggle and often find themselves in undesirable situations.
Since I regularly see prisoners with a wide variety of effective and ineffective approaches to their incarcerations, I decided to compile a list of suggestions for how one could make prison or jail time more palatable. This list is not all-inclusive and is in no particular order. I offer no guarantees and hope that you will never seriously need a list such as this!
1. Stay busy and healthy: Some inmates do virtually nothing in prison, and I believe this is a mistake. Although freedoms are limited, there are still many things inmates can do to make the time pass more quickly, stay physically and mentally healthy, and better themselves. Go to the prison library regularly and read lots of books. Earn your HSED/GED or take college classes if they are available. Do not pass up the opportunity to go to recreation. As your health permits, work out regularly. You’ll feel better, be less likely to be a target, sleep better, and you’ll likely be healthier.
2. Don’t draw attention to yourself: “Lay low” is good advice. Try not to come up on the radar
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