Unit C - Blog 16

For both men and women correctional officers, a majority had no idea that they would wind up in that professional arena. Many men started out wanting to be cops but found that the prison offered more jobs and better pay and benefits. Women were less likely to even consider the job and come form all sorts of "feminine jobs." Many were child care workers and secretaries. They considered correctional officer positions after being attracted to the health benefits and pay. In social networks, women from a young age are not even encouraged to be in police work let alone prison guards. Because of this they feel they do not have anything to offer to that field and are very unaware of what they would be required to do. Men were similar in the way that they "fell" into the field because it is just not a common job that is talked about as a possible career when people are young. Social networks, even as adults, discourage women from becoming correctional officers because they feel it is still a "man's job." And while there are threats to a woman correctional officer, they are not as popular in prisons as the media makes it out to be. In training there is a video shown about possible prison violence which sometimes causes women AND men to quit before finishing training. Men were less likely to admit it was because of the fear of violence though. The point is that society teaches us prisons are like a war zone which discourages both sexes from seeking the position. The main motivation for people to choose this as a career is the pay and benefits. Because jails are in rural areas, there are not a lot of good paying jobs in the area, especially with benefits.