Correctional officers and Gender

Correctional Officers and Gender

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Correctional Officers and Gender

An inevitable debate exists between prison guards’ rights to equal employment opportunities despite the gender of inmates in the correctional facilities and alleged rights of detainees to some level of privacy. According to Dwight (n.d), in order for people to enjoy full benefit of employment in equal measures, officers of either gender must be qualified for any duties and positions in the facilities, even in areas that involve close supervision (observation of unclothed prisoners in cells, toilets and showers) and physical contact (cavity searches and pat-down) with the inmates of opposite gender.

Nonetheless, a lot of inmates stress that such actions by officers of opposite gender is violation of their privacy. The courts have valiantly struggled with the attempt to establish an acceptable and reasonable balance between these conflicting matters, but a considerable amount of disagreement still remains as to certain specific issues, particularly visual observation of naked inmates, strip, pat-down and body cavity searches.

Uniformly, courts recognize that search and observation of inmates are essential to prevent possession and obtaining of drugs, weapons and other contraband by the inmates. However, disagreement arises as to the degree of search and observation that is necessary and as to whether or not correctional officers of the same gender can participate. Different courts provide considerable deference to expertise and experience of the prison officers in these issues, as long as a rational basis for procedures employed exists.  

Inmate rehabilitation can be best achieved by employing guards of the same gender as inmates. For instance, in the case of Torres vs. Wisconsin Department of Health and Social Services, it was held that rehabilitation of inmates will only be enhanced by using female guards in the units of female inmates (Dwight, n.d.). Prisoners who seek to be free from the harsher aspects of the prison life normally emphasize they are protected by Fourth, Eight and the First Amendment of U.S. Constitution. The Fourth Amendment right is stressed to prohibit certain physical contacts and visual observations, especially in cases where officers of opposite are involved.