Investigating Threat Perception Among Correctional Officers in the Canadian Provincial Correctional System

Rosemary Ricciardelli; Amber Gazso

doi:10.18778/1733-8077.9.3.06

Authors

Rosemary Ricciardelli Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada
Amber Gazso York University, Canada

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/1733-8077.9.3.06

Keywords:

Prison, Violence, Sense of Self, Corrections Officer, Static Self, Interaction

Abstract

This paper presents findings regarding the perception and experience of threat among correctional officers in the Canadian provincial correctional system. Men employed in provincial remand centers or corrections institutions in diverse provinces across Canada, who interact daily with prisoners, voluntarily participated in detailed 60- to 180-minute in-depth interviews. Analysis of interview transcripts reveals that violence is prevalent and men either experience or anticipate experiencing physical or verbal victimization at work. Additionally, officers employ strategies, such as a confident and authoritative self-presentation, building positive relationships with colleagues, and respectful relationships with prisoners, to mitigate this threat. However, we found that threat to safety extended beyond simply those of physical or verbal victimization to include threat to men’s sense of self. Specifically, victimization and violence or their threat shape officer’s self-concept over time; the ways officers interact within their prison work environment creates a shift in their self that extends beyond the prison walls.

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Author Biographies

Rosemary Ricciardelli, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada

Rosemary Ricciardelli is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at Memorial University of Newfoundland. She earned her PhD in Sociology at McMaster University. She has published in a range of academic journals including: Sex Roles, Criminal Justice Review, Canadian Journal of Sociology, Journal of Crime and Justice, Journal of Gender Studies, The Prison Journal, and Journal of Criminal Justice Education. Her primary research interests include evolving conceptualizations of masculinity, and experiences and issues within different facets of the criminal justice system. Her current research looks at prisoner culture, their coping strategies and risk perception, as well as those of corrections officers. She also continues to investigate wrongful convictions and the perceptions of individuals who have had such experiences.
Amber Gazso, York University, Canada

Dr. Amber Gazso is an Associate Professor in Sociology at York University. She completed her PhD in Sociology at the University of Alberta in 2006. Her current research interests include: citizenship; family and gender relations; poverty; research methods; and social policy and the welfare state. Her two current research projects, both funded by SSHRC, explore: (1) how diverse families make ends meet by piecing together networks of social support that include government programs (e.g., social assistance) and community supports, and informal relations within families and with friends and neighbors; and (2) the relationship between health and income inequality among Canadians and Americans in midlife. Her recent publications focus on low income mothers and their experiences on social assistance or with incarceration; comparing mid-life Canadians and Americans’ different experiences of the recession and generational relations; and health disparities among aging Canadians.

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