UNIT C: Blog 13

BLOG 13



Britton opens up the first chapter of the book by giving us the popularized view of what prison guards should look like. She paints the picture of a man, huge in stature, big, and carrying a night stick in uniform. She states that the "norm" or what most people perceived them as asking like they are mean, brutal, sadistic, and someone that would be able to stand up or deal with this prisoners. The problem with this idea is that people still carry it even though women make up 47 percent of the work force and women do carry positions as prison guards. Even though women have been the transition into this field people still do not see them the same, they do not get jobs at the federal prisons, get paid less, and are not given the same opportunities to work some jobs within the prison (Ch.1).

Women are still trying to make their mark in this over masculine occupation. Prison is seen as a male dominated world made up of male prisoners, male prison guards and violence and masculine behavior, as it is stereotyped. The "norms" of what people stereotype women as being is the opposite of what the skills ans traits are for prison guards which is masculine, aggressive and violent. Women are seen as the opposite as feminine. This ideology brings us to the conclusion of or theory of "genderized organizations" This theory states that one should see organizations not as neutral, but as places where stereotypical traits and norms are present in the structuring of the occupation. Prisons are one example in which this theory was used before and were seen as atypical locations for this behavior. It is so hard to get rid of this standards and norms because they are build into the structuring of the occupation. Another reason is because when people are within the structure of the prison they are in their for long periods of time and their settings, traits, and standards within these walls become them and encompass their personality; they are engulfed into a "total institution." (Ch.1)

Women in prison guard positions are not looked at the same as men in these positions. Women in prison guard positions are out in the lowest position and put in state prisons and not federal. people think that women can not handle the male prisoners and they barred them from contact with the prisoners ( Ch.1).

The media coverage for male prisons and female prisons is not covered the same as well. Just in media alone there were only 91 movies about female prisons and 657 about male prisons. They portray men's prisons as violent and women's are portrayed as sexual. Most people think that this job is too dangerous for women. Prisons have only been around for a short period of about 200 years and ideal and "norms" of these prisons were well established right along with them. the first ideal about women's prisoners were that they had too be much worse than males if they were in prison because they would have had to go beyond their "norms" or moral organization. Women were separate from men in the prison in the Auburn prisons. They were put in "make shift" living areas, cramped, and not allowed out for even work. After a while they were aloud out once and they spent their days sewing, knitting, and doing domesticated chores for the male prisoners (Ch.2)

Women in prisons were seen as a problem or just thing that gets in the way, the were used, they got pregnant and were more than likely used for the male prisoners and guards enjoyment. Women did not have power and were seen as someone that you could not help; they were beyond help in the eyes of the males. One quote from Susan B. Anthony states that men are in prisoned for the "love of the vice" and women for "absolute want for necessaries of life." Male security guards in prisons saw women as nothing, saw them as worse off, hard to deal with and cause more problems than the males (Ch. 2).

An example of how women are perceived different in the occupations is in Women Police Officers. In the video the wife had to prove herself, act in the role that police officers act. She changes at work because of the "role" she has to take and does not want to take her work home with her. She had to fight against the objections and stereotypes. Overall she became an accomplish member of the S.W.A.T. team, but the men in her group were surprised that she was good. She was stressed, but she did just as good in this position as the males if not better than most (Video: Beyond the Blue).