“Stereotypes abound about how one comes to be a correctional officer. By far the most common is the notion that those who seek out such employment do so because they posses authoritarian personalities and desire to indulge their taste for brutality.” (Britton 80) The stories are all different between men and women and the work experience is different as well. Different paths to prison work include the military, family in correctional work, law enforcement, degree/courses in criminology or criminal justice, administrative support, and technical sales, or service. The relationship between previous work experience and becoming a correctional officer is pretty significant with men, but not as significant with women. A lot of people say that they just drifted into this kind of work because of previous jobs and that is the case with most men. A lot of the men were police officers or something in the military before they became correctional officers, but that is not the case for a lot of women.
Social networks play a huge role in job opportunities and that goes for any job I think. It is all about knowing people and for correctional officers, social networks are gendered because a majority of them are men. The social network for correctional officers is mostly male because that occupation is male dominated, which makes it very hard for women to get in and even when they are in they are treated differently.
The two biggest motivations for becoming a correctional officer for both men and women is pay and benefits. From the readings it seems as if it is a good opportunity for people with no further education after high school. Another reason women take on a position like this is because of divorce. They need to double their income and they say this job makes the money for them.
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