Deck 9: The Corrections Experience for Staff

Question 1

Which of the following is NOT a defining characteristic of a profession?

A) formal on-the-job training
B) educational attainment
C) a clear and detailed job description
D) pay that is commensurate with the work

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Which of the following is NOT a defining characteristic of a profession?

A) work that is guided by a code of ethics
B) the ability to exercise discretion
C) the existence of a subculture
D) pay that is commensurate with the work

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Shire reeves was the Old English name for ______.

A) prison guards
B) probation officers
C) sheriffs
D) watchmen

Answer 3

C

Question 4

The general public ______.

A) tends to believe corrections officers are overpaid
B) does not generally see corrections work as a profession
C) believes most correctional officers are racists who abuse their power
D) tends to believe corrections officers are underpaid

Question 5

Which of the following is a characteristic of a profession?

A) an occupational subculture
B) formal on-the-job training
C) a clear and detailed job description
D) flexibility regarding the education needed for a position

Question 6

How many characteristics typify a profession?

A) 5
B) 7
C) 10
D) 12

Question 7

Discretion is defined as the ability to ______.

A) make choices and to act or not act on them
B) distinguish between right and wrong
C) make informed decisions on the basis of ideology and folk-knowledge
D) make ill-informed choices that are not based on experience

Question 8

By 2014, nearly ______ people worked in state and local corrections.

A) 500,000
B) 600,000
C) 700,000
D) 800,000

Question 9

In terms of correctional staff who work directly with inmates, the ratio of men to women is ______.

A) 2 to 1
B) 3 to 1
C) 4 to 1
D) 5 to 1

Question 10

In the beginning of the 21st century, the ratio of inmates to staff in prisons ______.

A) grew significantly
B) grew slightly
C) dropped significantly
D) dropped slightly

Question 11

Which of the following workers would probably command the highest salary?

A) stat-level corrections officers working in a prison
B) state-level community corrections officers
C) federal corrections officers working in a prison
D) federal community corrections officers

Question 12

Concerns raised regarding the unionization of corrections officers include ______.

A) unions might work to increase incarceration to increase job opportunities
B) union contracts are too restrictive regarding the work people are allowed to do
C) unionization restricts the ability of administrators to fire incompetent officers
D) all of these

Question 13

Which of the following would likely command the lowest salary?

A) a union parole officer
B) a nonunion police officer
C) a nonunion corrections officer
D) a union parole officer

Question 14

Jails continue to hold ______ of their capacity.

A) about 82%
B) about 78%
C) about 54%
D) over 100%

Question 15

From 1982 to 2006, there was an almost ______ increase in direct expenditures for corrections agencies.

A) 100%
B) 303%
C) 567%
D) 600%

Question 16

A general continuum of correctional professionalism across the field in relation to pay, from most professionalized to least, would likely be ______.

A) jail, community corrections, public prisons
B) community corrections, public prisons, jail
C) public prisons, jail, community corrections
D) community corrections, jail, public prisons

Question 17

Police officers at both the state and local levels are paid almost ______ more per year than correctional officers.

A) $2,500
B) $7,000
C) $20,000
D) $40,000

Question 18

According to the text, which is NOT correct about officer pay?

A) Federal probation and parole officers are paid the most.
B) Usually, federal or state-level community corrections officers make more than prison officers at their level of government.
C) County- and city-level officers are paid more than state-level community corrections officers.
D) Usually, federal- or state-level community corrections officers make less than prison officers at their level of government.

Question 19

What is NOT one of the concerns about collective bargaining for corrections personnel?

A) Corrections officers don't deserve better pay.
B) It limits the ability to fire incompetent people.
C) The contracts are too restrictive.
D) Incarceration rates go up to create jobs.

Question 20

Which of the following is NOT one of the reasons people who work in corrections might find it gratifying?

A) It is a booming industry.
B) People might want to make a difference in others' lives.
C) People want to be able to control others.
D) Those attracted to the work are curious about the human psyche.

Question 21

In federal facilities in 2005, ______ of the employees were women.

A) 5%
B) 13%
C) 15%
D) 18%

Question 22

In federal facilities in 2005, ______ of the employees were men.

A) 13%
B) 75%
C) 87%
D) 95%

Question 23

Negotiations used by union workers to seek benefit provisions from employers are called ______.

A) defects of total power
B) stressors
C) collective bargaining
D) abuse of power

Question 24

The ______ found that guards quickly began to abuse their authority.

A) Harvard Incarceration Study
B) Stanford Prison Experiment
C) Yale Power Analysis
D) Westminster Assessment

Question 25

The cause of the misbehavior of the guards in the Stanford Prison Experiment was ______.

A) job stress
B) poor supervision
C) difficult inmates
D) power

Question 26

The army initially wanted to blame the Abu Ghraib scandal on ______.

A) media bias
B) an incompetent supervisor
C) dangerous inmates
D) untrained staffers

Question 27

Which of the following jobs generally requires the least training?

A) sheriff's deputy
B) probation officer
C) corrections officer
D) police officer

Question 28

The ______ has developed an extensive code of ethics for correctional officers.

A) American Jail Association
B) Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences
C) American Correctional Association
D) National Law Enforcement Association

Question 29

The ______ was stopped after only a few days due to ethics issues.

A) San Diego Correctional Experiment
B) Abu Ghraib Scandal
C) Stanford Prison Experiment
D) Sadul Grabi Scandal

Question 30

Dahl (1961) defined ______ as being able to "get people to do what they otherwise wouldn't."

A) a profession
B) discretion
C) experience
D) power

Question 31

During the ______, prisoners were tortured by mostly untrained "correctional officers" by making them sleep naked, crawl on the floor, and pose in pyramids naked.

A) San Diego Correctional Experiment
B) Abu Ghraib Scandal
C) Stanford Prison Experiment
D) Sadul Grabi Scandal

Question 32

The typical correctional job has ______ requirements for formal training or structured experience compared with other professions.

A) slightly more
B) fewer
C) about equal
D) many more

Question 33

Which of the following is NOT a personal factor that can affect the correctional workplace?

A) race
B) age
C) prior military service
D) none of these

Question 34

What age do most correctional institutions require applicants to be before they are hired?

A) 18
B) 21
C) 25
D) 16

Question 35

Research indicates that female corrections officers are ______.

A) less likely than male officers to be disciplined for sexual harassment
B) more likely than male officers to be involved in "consensual" sexual relations with inmates
C) less likely than male officers to be sexually harassed by male supervisors
D) all of these

Question 36

According to Lipsky, every entry-level public sector worker starts out as ______.

A) a naïve innocent
B) a power-hungry person
C) an accident waiting to happen
D) a street-level bureaucrat

Question 37

A hack is ______.

A) a violent and cynical keeper of inmates
B) a new, untrained correctional officer
C) a burned-out officer who does as little as possible
D) a low-level bureaucrat

Question 38

A correctional officer who provides goods, services, advocacy, and assistance to help inmates adjust is said to take a ______ approach.

A) hack
B) human service
C) social work
D) vocational

Question 39

Correctional officer roles include ______.

A) loafer
B) hack
C) expert
D) all of these

Question 40

According to Lipsky (1980), public sector workers with too much work to do, too few resources to do it, and some discretion in how to choose to do it are ______.

A) street-level bureaucrats
B) bean counters
C) gatekeepers
D) passive aggressive

Question 41

Current scholars in corrections use the term hack to refer to ______.

A) correctional officers who have attained professional degrees
B) psychologists who work in the correctional system
C) prisoners who run cons on correctional officers and other prisoners
D) guards who rule a prison by brute force

Question 42

The human service role of corrections workers is exemplified by which of the following activities?

A) enforcing professional standards
B) preparing trainees for corrections work
C) advocating for offenders
D) ensuring that pay is commensurate with job requirements

Question 43

The subcultural values of corrections ______.

A) isolate the workers from the inmates
B) always resemble those of inmates
C) include an us-versus-them mentality
D) do not affect what staff members do

Question 44

______ consists of the norms, values, beliefs, history, traditions, and language held and practiced by an organization.

A) Culture
B) Role
C) Socialization
D) Power

Question 45

______ can be defined as the norms, values, beliefs, history, traditions, and language held and practiced by a group of people?

A) A role
B) An organizational culture
C) Power
D) A subculture

Question 46

Sykes (1958) notes that staff need inmates to comply with orders, as it would be difficult, if not impossible, to force them to do what they otherwise wouldn't, which is known as ______.

A) the defects of total power
B) stress
C) collective bargaining
D) the abuse of power

Question 47

Issues such as working late-night shifts and weekends all the time can wreak havoc on personal lives and create ______.

A) defects of total power
B) stress
C) collective bargaining
D) abuse of power

Question 48

______ involves right or wrong behavior on the job.

A) Ethics
B) Turnover
C) The use of force
D) Abuse of power

Question 49

What is more likely to occur in environments where administrators do not supervise staff closely enough and inmates have little or no ability to contact the outside?

A) ethics
B) turnover
C) use of force
D) abuse of power

Question 50

In her study of staff members supervising a cottage of boys in a juvenile training facility, what did Inderbitzin (2006) find regarding the different role correctional officers take when supervising children?

A) Their role does not change from the type of role they take on in adult facilities.
B) They serve as their adolescent inmates' guardians, keepers, counselors. and role models.
C) The staff members who are most effective are those who take on a hack role.
D) They dislike working with juveniles.

Question 51

Within the last century, the public has come to consider corrections work a profession.

Question 52

Dahl (1961) defined discretion as being able to "get people to do what they otherwise wouldn't."

Question 53

The general public tends not to view corrections work as a profession.

Question 54

A profession is typified by five things, one of which is pay and benefits that are commensurate to the work.

Question 55

Community corrections is arguably the most professionalized sector of American corrections.

Question 56

Probation officers tend to earn more money than corrections officers.

Question 57

Police officers and corrections officers are paid about the same wage.

Question 58

When corrections work does require a college degree, it is generally a specific degree in criminal justice or criminology.

Question 59

When a college degree is required for a job in corrections, it is rarely specifically a criminal justice degree.

Question 60

All jails, prisons, and even juvenile institutions require applicants to have a college degree.

Question 61

During the Abu Ghraib scandal, volunteers were divided into the roles of inmates and guards.

Question 62

The Stanford Prison Experiment found that inmates would take advantage of guards if the guards did not act abusively.

Question 63

Some correctional agencies will hire job applicants as young as 16.

Question 64

Research indicates that female workers are more likely to be sexually harassed by male workers than male workers are by female workers.

Question 65

As the correctional workplace has diversified, so has the importance of race on perceptions of workers and their labor.

Question 66

Prior military service has not been seen as a valuable attribute of those working in corrections, due to their strict discipline.

Question 67

Male officers are more like to be involved in "consensual" sexual relations with inmates than are their female counterparts.

Question 68

Subcultural values can be positive, facilitating officers' ability to do their work well.

Question 69

Correctional organizations today are less likely to have as strong a staff subculture as they did in the past.

Question 70

The hack role serves as a more positive role model for inmates and other officers.

Question 71

Everyone who works in a correctional agency starts as a street-level bureaucrat.

Question 72

A review of studies found that corrections officers who adopted a human service approach expressed less stress on the job than other workers.

Question 73

The use of force can be seen more in minimum security facilities than anywhere else.

Question 74

Staff members who experience stress are more likely to burn out, thus causing higher turnover for the agency.

Question 75

Abuse of power is likely to occur in environments where administrators do not supervise staff closely enough.

Question 76

Explain what a profession is. Do you believe corrections is a profession? Why or why not?

Question 77

Explain what steps you think could have helped avoid the Abu Ghraib scandal.

Question 78

Explain the difference between the hack and human service roles.

Question 79

How do you think we should deal with officers who are merely acting in the hack role?

Question 80

How do you think we might be able to help correctional officers advance beyond the street-level bureaucrat role?