Topic: The Club House / Women working in Corrections

replying to ms. kellie’s post. i will agree with most of what you had to say. I know and understand that i still have much to learn if i am to make it in my corrections career. Maybe ‘coniving’ wasnt the best choice of words to use in that situation. Maybe i should have said “always be one step ahead”. WAY back in the day our facilities had male deputies with the male inmates and female deputies with the female inmates, but that was over 20 years ago. I agree that it is better to try to be positive, but also consider that with different regions throughout the united states the type of inmates you will encounter will be different. Even in different sections of the facilities, the inmates may be better or worse. And also being it that most of my coworkers tower over me and out weigh me, (male and female) when theres a situation nobody ever tells me to stay out, but they would prefer that the males jump in first. That never offends me though, because at our facility, we are more than just coworkers, we are like a close knit family and we look out for one another. We want to see each one of us walk out the door at the end of the day unscathed. And everyone has to deal with bais in our department. Our whole department is based mostly on politics and not what corrections is truly about, so as deputies, non commisioned or otherwise, we ALL have to try to get our respect, even from other departments outside of our jurisdiction. But like I said, different regions, different situations….

Topic: The Club House / Women working in Corrections

Let me just say that im the youngest in my department, weighing in at a buck 12 and i work in a ALL male facility. Of course a woman has to try harder to get her respect than a male does, because a man isnt used to having a woman telling him what to do and having to follow suit. Its a psycological thing. You could say one thing to the inmate, and hell turn around and ask your male partner the same question, and get the SAME answer, then decide to listen. And sometimes all a female CO has is her mind, and that black and red pen. Not always even backup. You have to find what these inmates like the most and take it from them. Visits, commisary, phone calls, the tv’s…and whatever else makes them happy. I do have bad nerves, and they (the inmates) know it, so they use that to their advantage sometimes. But they also know at the end of the day (and I say it) I get to go home and do whatever the hell I want without having to ask someone for it. So they know who not to play with. Plus, in my department as a whole, the number of females outweighs the males by a signifigant number. Case and point, even though men get more respect than a woman does, a woman has something powerful: a voice and a coniving mind.