Unit C - Blog 16

The position of correctional officer is a unique position that has a high demand for workers, but a low supply of them. Britton mentions that being a correctional officer isn’t one of the typical main stream jobs that children and young adults strive to be. It is a blue collar job that entails hard work, sometimes rough working conditions, and doesn’t offer great salary or benefits. These elements combined are part of the reason that this job isn’t the most attractive for many individuals.

There are many paths that lead to becoming a correctional officer. According to At Work in the Iron Cage, several correctional officers alluded to the fact that they did not strive to become correctional officers, but more so fell upon it. Many of the individuals had strived to become police officers, but ended up as correctional officers. Britton speaks about many of the images affiliated with police officers. Many of these include crime fighting, tough and aggressive, and she goes on to speak about the socialization that occurs through television and pop culture. The next parts that Britton goes over are salary and the difference in salaries between race and gender. She points out that white male officers still are higher paid than anyone else, but for diverse workers, it is more comparable than in other fields. Because of this it is more attractive to women and minorities. Other areas that relate to the path of entering corrections include education. Britton speaks about individuals that study criminal justice, which sparks an interest in this field that they later end up pursuing.

There is certainly a difference between men and women when it comes to entering the field of corrections. As stated above, many people become correctional officers through other goals such as police officers, military and criminal justice. Many of these things are socialized as masculine. I have mentioned in several blogs the correlation of prisons and violence, men and violence, size and law enforcement, etc. All these are products of our society’s stereotypes. There aren’t a lot of women that strive for law enforcement because of these socializations, which obviously would mean less would want to be a correction officer. Another factor in the path to become a corrections officer are the other alternatives out there. Although it isn’t the savviest job available during a scarce job market, pay and benefits usually better in corrections, which is many people’s modivation when looking for a job. Overall, it is apparent that corrections officer job isn’t the greatest, but it isn’t the worst. Women are attracted to the position through education, ambitions in for law enforcement, and networking through friends.