Ethical Justice

Chapter Twelve:

Ethical Issues for Corrections Staff

Ethical Issues for Corrections Staff

Corrections is the branch of the criminal justice system that deals with the probation, incarceration, management, rehabilitation, treatment, parole, and sometimes execution of convicted criminals.

The vast majority of inmates are easily exploited and abused, and they are entirely dependent upon the ethical and professionalism of corrections staff for their day to day survival and protection of their rights and personal safety.

Types of Facilities

1. Jails – are used to hold those who have been recently arrested prior to any court proceedings, such as an arraignment, in law enforcement custody.

2. Prisons – are deigned to facilitate the long-term sentences of convicted felons.

3. Private correctional facilities

The Role of Corrections

The role of corrections is to:

Securely detain those convicted of crimes; Protect them from themselves and any others detained

in the same facility; and Provide essential medical and mental healthcare.

The Role of Correctional Officers

Correctional officers are tasked with maintaining order and security within prisons.

They are required to enforce institutional rules while modeling appropriate behavior to inmates.

They are further obligated to help support and even facilitate the rehabilitation efforts being made by other prison staff.

Job-related pressures and sources of stress for correctional officers frequently include, but are not limited to:

Understaffing, mandatory overtime, rotating shift work, low pay, the threat of violence, stimulus overload, and poor public image.

Inmate Duty of Care

When the state deprives a citizen of their liberty and confines them to a prison, it takes on the responsibility for his or her health, safety, and general welfare. The state therefore has a duty of care.

When the state breaches its duty of care to an inmate, the state is liable for any harm that is suffered.

The basic duty of care that exists between a correctional facility and its inmates is found in the understanding that the state must refrain from violating an inmate’s civil rights.

These rights are guaranteed in Section 1983 of the United States Code titled “Civil action for deprivation of rights”.

Inmate Duty of Care

Inmate Lawsuits Inmates are able to bring suit against correctional facilities

for a broad spectrum of issues related to the circumstances of their incarceration. Common problems raised in inmate lawsuits include complaints regarding conditions of confinement such as the following: Cruel and unusual punishment Excessive use of force by prison staff Inadequate medical care Access to courts

Inmate Duty of Care

Health Care One of the key duties of care held by the state with respect

to prison inmates involves providing adequate access to health care.

When prison staff or administrators are aware of medical conditions that go untreated, or of treatment conditions that are beneath the ascribed standard of care, both the state and the individual may be held responsible.

Misconduct and Ethical Issues

Misconduct and ethical issues with corrections officers include the following:

Use of force; Professional boundaries; Inappropriate relationships; and The introduction of contraband.

Misconduct and Ethical Issues

Use of Force The inmate has a right to be free from harm, and to be free

of the fear of harm (with respect to both correctional officers and other inmates).

Correctional officer have an obligation to intervene against inmates with “reasonable force”, in order to protect themselves, their co-workers, or other inmates. They may also use “reasonable force” in order to get

inmates to comply with institutional policy, to prevent escape, or to facilitate recapture.

The obligation to protect inmates from harm using force extends to that which is foreseeable by corrections staff; in fact staff members that fail to protect inmates can be held accountable for what the courts refer to as “deliberate indifference”.

Misconduct and Ethical Issues

Professional Boundaries Corrections staff have a professional obligation to set and

maintain consistent boundaries between themselves and the inmates in their charge. These are sometimes blurred due to the proximity in

which officers and inmates interact and by the staff’s need to control inmates.

Boundary violations can include the following: deviation from the traditional, self disclosure, bending the rules, taking gifts from inmates, giving information to inmates, jokes around, and receiving help of information for self-gain.

Misconduct and Ethical Issues

Inappropriate Relationships Personal relationships between correctional officers and

inmates are inherently inappropriate. Worley et al. (2003) identified three types of “Turners”:§ Heartbreakers – were found to have initiated a

relationship with a security officer to establish a long-term romantic relationship.

§ Exploiters – were found to have aggressively forged inappropriate relationship with staff members to make illicit profits in the underground prison economy.

§ Hell-raisers – engaged in a unique kind of psychological warfare – they simply wanted to cause trouble in the prison system.

Misconduct and Ethical Issues

The Introduction of Contraband Corrections officers account for much of the contraband that

ends up in a given facility. Common examples include: drugs, alcohol, weapons, and cell

phones. The most frequently seized items are cell phones.

The smuggling of contraband by prison staff is not always a terminal offense.

Low pay and shrinking budgets are repeatedly cited throughout the criminal justice system as the primary reason for hiring and retaining the unqualified, or even those with criminal records, by law enforcement and corrections agencies. These decisions lack any basis in professional ethics.