Harassment In Corrections

While the previous literature has found significant consequences for sexual harassment occruing in the workplace, Berdahl & Aquino, 2009; Brady et al., 2015; Ford et al., 2008; Hershcovis & Barling, 2010; Ineson et al., 2013; Lapierre et al., 2005; McDonald, 2012; & O’Farrell & Nordstrom, 2013), there is little research looking at sexual harassment of females in correctional settings. Szockyj (1989) assessed the role of female correctional officers in regards to their feelings about the work environment and their fellow male officer’s feelings, as well. When Szockyj asked the male officers about their opinions regarding the female officers and physical abilities, many male officers stated that they did not feel as safe having a female officer
back them up during an altercation compared to having a male officer for back up. Additionally, Szockyj found that the female officers also stated that they sensed this mistrust in their fellow male officers due to the perceived lack of physical ability. According to Szockyj, the female officers felt less accepted by their fellow male officers, which may be due to the lack of trust from the male to the females. Research by Lawrence and Mahan (1998) also supports the finding from Szockyj (1989) that male officers are less accepting of female officers. However, Lawrence and Mahan (1998) only found this to be true in the male officers that had been working at the prison for a long time. Additionally, Lawrence and Mahan (1998) found that the female officers felt secure in their ability to work in a prison regardless of how the males felt. However, these findings can also be explained by the fact that the fellow male officers may feel threatened due to the ascribed power the female officers have obtained (Stringer et al., 1990). Similar to Lawrence and Mahan (1998) and Szockyj (1989), Vartia and Hyyti (2002) also found that female officers were the targets of conflict. Specifically, Vartia and Hyyti found that female officers were more likely to be sexually harassed than male officers. Additionally, females were also more likely to be harassed by other officers, while male officers tended to be targeted by fellow officers, as well as by supervisors. The research by Stringer et al. (1990) may explain this finding in that male officers may be concerned that the female officers are a threat to their position. Further, Vartia and Hyyti (2002) found that the violent environment of the prison might also impact the aggression and bullying seen by the staff members. These results were found in an all male prison setting, but do not appear to carry over to all female prisons. In fact, Stohr, Mays, Beck, and Kelley (1998) found that female officers working in an all female prison had low rates of sexual harassment. However, this may also be due to the lack of male authority and power in female prisons, as research by Stringer et al. (1990) suggests.
Problem Definition and Process Model While the literature states that sexual harassment in the workplace is problematic on many facets, there are only a handful of interventions that exist to reduce the number of sexual harassment incidents in the workplace.
Additionally, none of these interventions focus on sexual harassment in a correctional workplace. Sexual harassment in a prison setting not only impacts the female, but it also has a negative impact on the prison as a whole. This impact may include other officers, supervisors, and even the inmates. If a female is experiencing burnout or other psychological consequences due to being sexually harassed at work, she may not be able to effectively do her job, which may cause a dangerous situation, such as a fight or riot, in the prison. Although this problem is documented, reporting of sexual harassment in the workplace, as well as prison setting, is very low. This may be due to intimidation factors, power struggles, or lack of knowledge from the females. While sexual harassment can and will impact the prison as a whole, reporting is sole up to the female that is experiencing the harassment. Therefore, the target group for this intervention would be the female officers. If the female officers do not feel comfortable, are not aware of how to report, or are simple afraid to report, then chances are they are not going to. Henceforth, this intervention will aim to bring more awareness and a sense of trust to the female officers to help them report their sexual
harassment experiences. In order to implement this intervention, the process model of the problem needs to first be discussed. The outcome variable of this intervention and process model is: the number of female correctional officers who self-report experiencing sexual harassment from a male officer. Since reporting sexual harassment seems to be a problem in the correctional setting, the goal of this intervention is to increase the number of sexual harassment incidents that are reported. Looking back one step at the next two variables is the first of the two social psychological theories present in this process model: schemas. As cited in Schneider, Gruman, and Coutts (2012, p. 221), schemas are mental structures or shortcuts people hold to help them understand the social world. Therefore, the next variables directly assess the schemas of the officers by measuring the beliefs of female officers. Specifically, the top variable assesses the belief of the female officer that the harassment is “just play” and innocent, as suggested in Berdahl and Aquino (2005). Additionally, the bottom variable assesses the belief of female officers that females and males are equal in the corrections workplace, which comes from the Szockyj (1989) literature. The relationship between the belief of female officers that the harassment is innocent and the outcome variable would be a negative relationship. This means that as more female officers believe that the incident is innocent, the less likely they are to report. Additionally, the relationship between the belief of a female officer that females and males are equal in the corrections workplace to the outcome variable is a positive one. This suggests that as females believe they are more equal, the more likely they are to report the harassment. Moving on from the two belief variables and back one more step from the outcome variable is another variable that directly assesses the beliefs of the female officers. Specifically, this variable measures the beliefs of the female officers that a female should not work in a prison setting as suggested by Lawrence and Mahan (1998) and Szockyj (1989) research. As female officers learn the schema that they should not work in corrections, their belief that the harassment is innocent increases, which makes the relationship between these two variables positive. That is, as the female officers’ schemas about females not working in corrections increases, so does their belief that the harassment is nothing to worry about and innocent. Additionally, the relationship between the schemas of the females about not working in corrections and their belief that males and females are equal in the corrections workplace is negative. This means that as the female officer’s schemas that females should not work in corrections increases, their belief that males and females are equal in the corrections setting decreases.
The farthest variable from the outcome variable is rooted in social learning theory, which suggests that a person learns new behaviors from watching and observing the behavior of others (Schneider et al., 2012, p.
76). To apply this to the current problem, female officers will learn how to act in the prison setting by watching and observing the other officers and supervisors they interact with. Additionally, as Gruber (1998) found, female officers who are exposed to male officers are more susceptible to experiencing sexual harassment. The exposure that a female officer has with other male officers may additionally expose her to sexist stimuli and beliefs from the male officers, as suggested in Ford et al., (2008). This will then impact the female officers’ beliefs. The relationship between the exposures of the female officers with other male officers to the beliefs of the female officers that a female should not work in corrections is positive. This suggests that as a female officer has more interactions with other male officers and male supervisors, the more likely she is to develop the schema that females should not work in
corrections.