I must confess that I don’t know. The term ex-con has been around a lot longer than I have, and it was deemed proper by acquaintences of mine who have served time in prison. Most of these same individuals, incidentally, bristle at the term inmate, feeling that it is more befitting of someone in an “insane asylum.” It’s my feeling that “ex-prisioner” would be most discriptively accurate, but again, I did not coin any of the terminology.
And the guys with guns and badges are guards. They’re not corrections officers.
Actually, they are corrections officers (usually shortened to C.O.). Personally, I’ve never had any major problem with the term “prison guard” but some of my colleagues are very opposed to it. And we don’t carry guns.
The one that really gets prison officers backs up is to call them warders.
This harks back to the days of time-servers, corruption and absolutely no proffesionalism.
Prison officers have one of the most demanding roles in society, they deal with the worst of the worst and yet they have to try and prepare inmates for their return to normality.
To me a guard is simply someone who protects or prevents certain situations, a prison officer does that and a whole lot more.
Any fool can turn a key in a lock but it needs a special person to deal fairly and responsibly with the lives of those assigned to their custody.
I’m sorry, but the term “corrections officer” to me smacks of euphemism. Who are they correcting? What they are doing is trying to keep the prisoners (not inmates, but prisoners) from killing each other and them (the guards). They’re not correcting, they’re maintaining. It’s a noble profession, after a fashion, but let’s not overinflate it. Again, this is all my own opinion.
What they are doing is trying to keep the prisoners (not inmates, but prisoners) from killing each other and them (the guards). They’re not correcting, they’re maintaining
**
This is only a small part of the job.
Ever hear how hard it is to get off hard drugs ?
Prison Officers run detox units and provide support and encouragement.
How many Cons are employable ?
Not many as they never finished school and hardly worked if at all.Prison officers educate and teach trade skills.This is my specialism.
Sex offenders have to be released at some time, you guessed it ,Prison Officers run the treatment programmes.
Many inmates have mental health problems , Prison Officers are trained to spot the signs and direct inmates to proper psychiatric help.
Inmates often have massive emotional traumas such as close family bereavement whilst in jail, Prison Officers learn to counsel them.
Prisons are not simply warehouses for human detritus.Unless you have been involved you would be surprised what goes into rehabilitation.
Finally, yes Prison Officers do try to keep themselves and the prisoners alive and in jail. Even if they are convicts they do have the right to life, though some may disagree in certain cases.
I’m not arguing any facts. I’m aware enough to understand that the department(s) in government who oversee prisons are called the Departments of Corrections, and the officers they employ are (literally) corrections officers. I thought that went without saying. Apparently not. My feeling is that the titles themselves are euphemistic. And while I freely admit that I have not been incarcerated myself, two good friends and a member of my family have been, and it is from them that my points on prisons originate. All three, in some for or another, essentially told me that all they got from their time in jail was three years (or so) off the streets. No correction of any kind. And I understand that programs for self improvement are there for those prisoners who wish to do so, many (especially those serving short sentences) do not. A great deal of them are released, only to be nailed and jailed again.
Prisoners in the UK and probably elsewhere have to actively take part in the management of their sentence - sentence planning.
Their offences are examined and the risk of re-offending assessed.
For many the greatest risk is that they continue drug-taking and for others it may be that they have serious educational deficiencies.
If they already have some work skills these are also assessed to see if they can be augmented, for example a bricklayer might find it useful to learn how to drywall.
Once the prisoner has undergone this process they will then be obliged to carry out all the tasks assigned.
When parole and resettlement leave boards come up this will be taken into account.
If a prisoner wishes to move from a less authoritarian regime - to a lower security grade of prison that person will have to demonstrate their co-operation with prison authority.
True rehabilitation can only occur if the prisoner makes the move, we can make all the facilities available but it all boils down to them.
I often hear the comment from prisoners that ‘jail gave me nothing’ but why should jail give any prisoner anything at all, I had to earn and pay my way in life just as the overwhelming majority of people do.
Many prisoners would like to sit on their arses and have everything come to them, quite simply they are lazy and greedy.
It is quite right that such people who have no intention of doing something to straighten themselves out should be incarcerated again and again for longer and longer terms.
This is why the onus on the prisoner to make an effort to improve themselves, yes they are given the old carrot-and-stick approach.
The prisoners attitude is usually ‘what’s in it for me if I learn to read/cook etc’ they often cannot see past their own noses to the bleedin’ obvious.
I think you may have gotten one rather biased point of view from ex-cons but next time you see money taken from your income in taxes remember that some of it is to pay for their incarceration, it’s why your car insurance is high,why you pay for household insurance, and why so many have to fit burglar alarms, don’t you think that ex-cons owe you something for all the money you contributed to their welfare ?
Why is it necessary to call a person anything other than their name?
And you, Thomas Decker you sound like a jackass of the first order and are probably an embarassment to your superiors at the prison in Tipton, MO. By the term superiors I mean anyone who is not you.
I guess we could be all politically correct but once you have experienced working with prisoners and their utter selfishness you will understand why it is so easy to let the mask slip.
Some of the stuff they do to manipulate those who love them and the way they will sell every principle they might claim to have for the most rivial things is breathtaking.
These are just the regular prisoners, not the truly evil ones working with those requires you to develop a hard shell which is difficult to leave at the gate on your way out.
I’m sorry but you may feel that it is not right to denigrate such persons but I never ever forget what I am dealing with and their potential, already proven, for causing untold misery to the wholly innocent.
Not all prisoners are the same, you might think, but after only a few months inside they metamorphose rapidly into an institutionalised being whose only interest is self first, last and always.
I try my best to be fair treating all of them in exactly the same way, not favouring any above the rest but staff working in prisons are human we have to put up a barrier between oursleves and prisoners or we would quickly be compromised.
Anyway puppies are little cute things that are innocent, trainable, respectful, and know their place -same cannot be sid for prisoners.Dirty, evil, disgusting, abusive, perverted bastards that they are.
