The Correctional Officer Part II - When they are too young

Although it has gotten easier to survive in a male dominated culture, challenges still face women in corrections.  While women are accepted fairly easily my male inmates, it is not as easy when it comes to staff.  In the 80's it was a lot harder but as our prisons have become more regulated throughout the years, women were able to withstand the stigma of being weak minded and easily swayed.

Today the shortage of Correctional Officers we have in the State of New Mexico is quite high.  As fast as correctional facilities hire men and women is as fast as they lose them.  Either C/O's are unable to withstand the long hours that are required because of the shortage or they are easily manipulated by inmates which in turn causes them to lose their jobs or they find that they are unable to work in the highly stressful environment.  Because I worked at a men's federal correctional facility, I observed that as I was working for a Private Prison, there was no age requirement for hiring Correctional Officers.  Therefore, I witnessed the facility hire young men and women who were fresh out of high school.  It was interesting for me that no one had stepped in and addressed what was happening to the facility by allowing these young 18 and 19 year olds and how the safety and security of the staff and inmates would be affected.  Many of these young adults would not find themselves in this field for very long.  It was often that we would see one of the new C/O's walked out of our facility for different reasons.

By not imposing age requirements, we are setting these young adults up to fail immediately.  When you are sending a young 18 year old lady to work the line for the first day on the job and most of the time it is without any guidance, it is guaranteed that the inmates are already working on their craft.  They are able to study her and determine if they are able to find her weakness.  Many times these inmate are able to manipulate a young C/O in just six months.  I remember my first day and I was 45 years old.  I have lived life, and I understand how men work their craft and even then I was unaware of certain games these inmates play.  It is disheartening when I see these young men and women lose their job because they will have to explain this on any job application in their future and may disqualify them from finding future jobs. 

It is a fact that it takes a certain type of individual to do this type of work and succeed at it long term.  You know early on if it is for you.  If it is, then you are able to see your place and your responsibility to other staff.  Change happens everyday in Corrections and although the shortage will continue to be an issue in our prisons, it is our responsibility as Correctional Officers to keep staff, Inmates and our communities safe.