The Pros And Cons Of Correctional Officers

First, I would like to say that working as a corrections officers or anyone who works in that type of environment will say that it is the most stressful job in law enforcement. (Carlson & Garrett, 2008) It is near impossible to work in a stressful environment such as a prison without suffering some form of ill effects. (Carlson & Garrett, 2008) Correctional officers oversee inmate of Federal, State, and local prisons or jail systems. They are responsible for enforcing the rules of their confinement. (Carlson & Garrett, 2008) This is why corrections work is one of the most stressful jobs in law enforcement. (Carlson & Garrett, 2008) Correctional officers are required to remain continually alert during their entire shift which can be between
(Reid, 2015) Second, like many prisons across the United States is suffering from overcrowded and understaffed. (Reid, 2015) Today the United States prison population has seem a huge increase between the 1970 and the 1990 as the federal government chased the war on drug epidemic leaving many states having to manage their overcrowding prison system with only limited funds. (Reid, 2015) Therefore many correctional officers do not last long and quit or they get burned out after months of forced overtime and earning poor wages. (Reid, 2015) One of the key contribution factors for most poor prison condition is overcrowding. (Reid, 2015) I also discovered during my research that is the reason for many poor prison conditions around the world (Carlson & Garrett, 2008) Prison that is overcrowded inmate complains these poor conditions as well. (Reid, 2015) Many complain about the lack of privacy, mental health problems and the increase of the violence, self-harm and suicide. (Reid, 2015) Therefore, this is why cross training of security staff within the prison system is so
(Carlson & Garrett, 2008) It is also good for the other staff members because it helps them develop a new skill set and help the combat of position fatigue, in other words being complacent in their role or duties. (Hopp, Tekin, Van Oyen, 2004) This also help with employee who are not cut out for working in a prison environment because once someone leave or retire, that person can move right on into those require duties with ease. (Hopp, Tekin, Van Oyen, 2004) This helps the institution to operate more strategically. (Hopp, Tekin, Van Oyen, 2004) It is also say that crossing training helps with staff members become less vulnerable to become bored with their work but working in a prison environment every day, I honesty do not understand how that can happen. Working is prison environment is not your ordinary job. Now, the downside with cross training is that when others assure the duties or more responsibilities might expect an increase in their pay. (Hopp, Tekin, Van Oyen, 2004) In some cases this can case resentment towards the management staff or the institution itself. (Hopp, Tekin, Van Oyen,