An Officer and a Lady: Organizational Barriers to Women Working as Correctional Officers in Men's Prisons

Abstract

This paper examines the barriers confronting women employed as correctional officers in men's prisons, using interview, questionnaire, and historical data from a state department of corrections in the western United States. The department has extended employment opportunities to women at the same time as it has initiated a variety of other reforms aimed at rationalizing the treatment of both inmates and correctional staff. However, within the present setting, several organizational problems have frustrated administrative attempts at correctional reform and actually increased perceptions of danger in prison facilities. The resulting organizational milieu has accentuated suspicions surrounding the competence of women to work as correctional officers in men's prisons. Combined with the continued presence of informal opportunity structures, these fears and suspicions have inhibited the advancement of women in the department. This analysis illustrates the interplay between organizational factors and individual attitudes in shaping the opportunities for women in one non-traditional occupational setting.

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