How Women Reshape the Prison Guard Role

Abstract

This article describes the innovative job performance strategies used by women who work as guards in men's prisons. It suggests that women guards perform the job differently from men guards not only because women face structural and discriminatory barriers on the job but also because most women bring to the job a set of prior experiences, skills, and abilities different from those of most men. One of the reasons women may fail to receive positive performance evaluations in jobs traditionally held by men is that they are being evaluated on the basis of how well their work behavior matches that of men doing the same work. This article argues that there are multiple ways to perform jobs and that to expect women to perform jobs in the same manner as their male colleagues is a form of gender bias. Women should be judged by how effective they are, not by whether their approaches to work are similar to those of men.

Is gender a factor in perceived prison officer competence? Male prisoners' perceptions in an English dispersal prison

“…Any research attempting to identify gender differences is therefore vulnerable to this problem of measuring women's effectiveness. Zimmer (1987) believes that the 'structural and discriminatory barriers' that may exist for women in such environments and the different experiences and skills they hold mean women will always perform the job differently from men. So, women may never perform their duties similarly to men and, if compared with men, will therefore always be labelled as less effective.…”

Perceptions of Gender Bias in the Promotional Process of a Detention Staff

“…Various consistent themes emerged across gender. Male officers reported that their chances of being promoted were quite good (Lovrich and Stohr 1993), while female officers believed they were at a disadvantage (Belknap 1991;Crouch 1985;Jurik 1985;Zimmer 1986Zimmer , 1987Zupan 1992). Gender differences in perceptions of not being promoted were attributed to various issues.…”

“…Benefits of having females in a correctional setting include having a calming effect on inmates, and the introduction of positive female role models to male inmates who likely have had prior dysfunctional interactions with the opposite sex (Crouch 1985;Kissel and Katsampes 1980;Lovrich and Stohr 1993;Parisi 1984). Female officers often use different types of skill sets such as listening to inmates' problems, using open dialog, humor, and gentle persuasion in conversations (instead of aggression and physical force) to resolve intimate conflicts and other problems that occur in a correctional setting (Kissel and Katsampes 1980;Lovrich and Stohr 1993;Pogrebin and Poole 1998;Zimmer 1986Zimmer , 1987. Some findings also suggest that female officers positively view their occupation from a service-oriented role as rehabilitators more so than merely guards (Crouch 1985;Jurik 1985;Walters 1992).…”

“…Gender differences in perceptions of not being promoted were attributed to various issues. Among the reasons frequently cited for females being blocked from promotional opportunities included prejudicial views harbored by administrators against females (Crouch 1985); an arbitrary or non-standardized promotional process based upon informal networks of male officers and a concept of Bwho you know^ (Jacobs 1978); intentional backstabbing of female officers by male counterparts (Jurik 1985); concerns about work dangerousness (Farnworth 1992;Jurik 1988;Zupan 1992); and evaluation criterion that did not account for the different skill sets utilized by female officers in their job (Lovrich and Stohr 1993;Zimmer 1986Zimmer , 1987. Of the females who were promoted, some reported being teased that their promotion was earned based on sexual favors (Owen 1985;Pogrebin and Poole 1998), or to fulfill hiring quotas (Farnworth 1992).…”

“…Prior to the passage of the amendments to Title VII, female employment opportunities in jails and prisons were often clerical in nature. The concept and introduction of female officers to a correctional setting was viewed with skepticism by both male officers and administrators who expressed concern over the emotional and physical fitness of females in undertaking potentially dangerous tasks (such as restraining inmates), and the possibility of female officers being attacked, raped, or even used as hostages in riot situations (Bernat and Zupan 1989;Crouch 1985;Jurik 1985;Kissel and Katsampes 1980;Owen 1985;Withrow 1992;Zimmer 1986Zimmer , 1987. Female officers were frequent targets of sexual harassment and gender-based stereotyping throughout their time in a correctional setting (Farnworth 1992;Jurik 1985;Parisi 1984;Pogrebin and Poole 1998;Savicki et al 2003).…”