The realities of correctional officer misconduct and how to prevent it - Term Paper Example

Female Vulnerability in Correctional Duties Women have always considered themselves as the less reactive part of the family and societies. This particular trait and the practice of submissiveness to the male counterparts have developed low self-esteem among them. Coming to the conditions at detention centers and prisons, the life of women is further narrowed and exposed to risks and uncertainties. The grievances related to sexual abuse is a great concern for the authorities of all the jails. The introduction of female staff as utility players in jails was meant for such a corrective measure to eliminate the problems resulting from sudden sexual temptation deriving from nudity of both male and female inmates.

The changes in the prison management system initially guaranteed safety for female inmates from the predatory sexual behavior of other inmates and male officers. While the system made necessary changes to manage the affairs inside the prisons, the incrimination of African American women continued to exist as they were considered less privileged than the white women. The socio-cultural disparity between the races that prevails in the American society also has made the female correctional staff of the African American communities to carry the images of their race as a sexually vulnerable.

Smith (2012) also reveals that the male inmates and coworkers usually develop a negative stereotype in which female correctional staff are considered weak and sexually challengeable (p.1709). This particular scenario results in the moral degradation of female staff, a larger part of whom gradually succumbs to low self-esteem due to the continuous exposure to stress and sexual advances of men. Increasing cases of the involvement of female officers in moral corruption have considerably challenged the law enforcement system of the country.

The complications of the corruption increases to new magnitudes as more and more cases involving officer-inmate relationships come to light. Most important fact to note is sex is an inevitable part of human life and the self-control one possesses during the duty hours can only be deterrent that can prevent immoral activities related sexuality. There are numerous stories that report the incidents in which under trial detainees and prisoners falling in physical relationships with correctional staff.

In a report, Duncan (2014) says that the love story of Batimore City Detention Center in which a correctional staff, Kirkland falls in love with an under-trial man, Loney, for whom the Kirkland smuggled contrabands and finally lands in trouble. One of the biggest challenges before the female officers is their vulnerability to sexual passions, which they consider as a device to relieve themselves of stress. Most of the gangsters like the Black Guerilla Family have always considered sex as a tool for influencing the correctional officers and offered it for manipulating their morality as supervisors at jails and detention centers.

The consensual sex between the staff and inmates itself is a high intensive moral degradation of the government, then the cases involving sexual coercion and forced sex taking place at prisons have to be considered as a shameful truth. The initiative for an effective system of correctional centers is possible only if the concerned managements think seriously about the credibility of the prison affairs. According to Souryal (2009), in order to introduce and effective system of detention and imprisonment, the prison management must focus on the ethics and virtues like transparency, truthfulness, fidelity or accountability to promises and complete sense of responsibility.

The need for introducing professionalism is inevitable for the correctional staff, because the human aspects of temptation and jealousy and other negative feelings can be controlled when the officers are professionally oriented towards their own respective part of the jail duties.ReferencesDuncan, I. (2014, January 14). Corrections officer and gang member sentenced in jail corruption case: Taryn Kirkland, 23, and Steven Loney, 24, worked together to smuggle contraband. The Baltimore Sun. Souryal, S. S. (2009).

Deterring Corruption by Prison Personnel: A Principle-Based perspective. The Prison Journal, 89 (1) 21-25. Smith, B. V. (2012). Uncomfortable Places, Close Spaces: Female Correctional Workers’ Sexual Interactions With Men and Boys in Custody. UCLA L. Rev. 1690-1745.