Wasted Honor -- - Say What you Need To Say......: Correctional Officers

Wasted Honor -

Carl R. ToersBijns is the author of the Wasted Honor Trilogy [Wasted Honor I,II and Gorilla Justice] and his newest book From the Womb to the Tomb, the Tony Lester Story, which is a reflection of his life and his experiences as a correctional officer and a correctional administrator retiring with the rank of deputy warden in the New Mexico and Arizona correctional systems.

Carl also wrote a book on his combat experience in the Kindle book titled - Combat Medic - Men with destiny - A red cross of Valor -

Carl is considered by many a rogue expert in the field of prison security systems since leaving the profession. Carl has been involved in the design of many pilot programs related to mental health treatment, security threat groups, suicide prevention, and maximum custody operational plans including double bunking max inmates and enhancing security for staff. He invites you to read his books so you can understand and grasp the cultural and political implications and influences of these prisons. He deals with the emotions, the stress and anxiety as well as the realities faced working inside a prison. He deals with the occupational risks while elaborating on the psychological impact of both prison worker and prisoner.

His most recent book, Gorilla Justice, is an un-edited raw fictional version of realistic prison experiences and events through the eyes of an anecdotal translation of the inmate’s plight and suffering while enduring the harsh and toxic prison environment including solitary confinement.

Carl has been interviewed by numerous news stations and newspapers in Phoenix regarding the escape from the Kingman prison and other high profile media cases related to wrongful deaths and suicides inside prisons. His insights have been solicited by the ACLU, Amnesty International, and various other legal firms representing solitary confinement cases in California and Arizona. He is currently working on the STG Step Down program at Pelican Bay and has offered his own experience insights with the Center of Constitutional Rights lawyers and interns to establish a core program at the SHU units. He has personally corresponded and written with SHU prisoners to assess the living conditions and how it impacts their long term placement inside these type of units that are similar to those in Arizona Florence Eyman special management unit where Carl was a unit deputy warden for almost two years before his promotion to Deputy Warden of Operations in Safford and Eyman.

He is a strong advocate for the mentally ill and is a board member of David's Hope Inc. a non-profit advocacy group in Phoenix and also serves as a senior advisor for Law Enforcement Officers Advocates Council in Chino, California As a subject matter expert and corrections consultant, Carl has provided interviews and spoken on national and international radio talk shows e.g. BBC CBC Lou Show & TV shows as well as the Associated Press.

I use sarcasm, satire, parodies and other means to make you think!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Correctional Officers – Psycho or Robo Cops?

Much has been made on the characteristics of correctional officers as well as the police officer on the beat – they share many qualities alike but are different in so many ways. First there is no such thing as a profile for a prison guard or correctly addressed as a correctional officer. They are all different and in some instances they are all similar. Their personality traits are fairly obvious yet to some, they are much obscured.

Correctional officers represent a wide variety of ethnic composition and backgrounds. They come from different academia and cultural belief systems. These men and women have chosen an occupation that has many perils attached to it and are prepared to work in some of the most volatile and hostile environment known to men. For that they must either be insane or oblivious to the dangers as they volunteer to walk a beat without guns and only with guts.

In my experience I have worked with literate and illiterate officers. Some held college degrees and others barely graduated from high school but have attained a level of competence through the adaptation model and survival skill schools of hard knocks. Strangely many had hobbies that appeared to be too refined for the job such as ballet, music, and being members of a book club. The list is too long to write but would make an interesting subject to talk about when stopping to have a cup of coffee or drink while on break.

In my opinion diversity is good for any team building process. It provides different approaches, problem solving techniques and usually the same answers attained through a different thought process. Success can be measured by looking at those qualities needed in a hostile environment. Many of these characteristics may be mandatory but some can be developed over time with mentoring and training thus should not eliminate the person from the hiring process.

Looking at their personality inventory you will find following qualities in the successful officers: a. greater assertiveness on the dominance scale; social mobility; greater social poise and self-confidence; greater sense of self-worth; an independent side for autonomous achievements; better functional intelligence; better emotional intelligence; more masculine and a possession of a greater social acuity (empathy) scale.

Furthermore there are additional qualities that have been recognized to be associated with such public roles that include: self-disciplined, socially bold, extroverted, emotionally tough and low levels to experience anxiety,

What has been found, however, is that over time, and in response to the job's demands, revelations and perspectives, a distinct personality does form within most of the otherwise unique individuals engaged in the enforcement of statutory and institutional rules and regulations. What develops over the years is a personality that is best described as: distrustful of outsiders, cynical, conservative (not necessarily politically, but rather resistant to change), suspicious, pessimistic, pragmatic and prejudicial in nature and holding other widely-shared attitudes about and beyond the mainstream view.

So how does this fit in the Psycho / Robo Cop profile? You decide but the fact is a correctional officer is much more complex than one might ever imagine.