Blog #20: Arizona Prison Boss

A prison is a total institution because the people send the whole of their lives in the facility. In my opinion it is a total institution for some of the corrections officers, as well as, the inmates. Prisons display some of the most gendered inequalities in the workforce. Men who are concerned for women’s’ safety either try to protect them or they try to weed them out. This puts women in a no win situation. If they give into the men, they reinforce the men’s perspective that they are incapable. If they stand their ground they are ostracized. Before women started working in the prisons men were responsible for doing the clerical work, but now it is seen as a woman’s job and the women find themselves completing these tasks while the men do more masculine jobs. The two articles that covered the Arizona Lewis Prison hostage situation were shocking to read, to say the least. I found myself wondering where I was that I had not heard about it sooner.

The first similarity I saw between Bitton’s study of correctional officers and the hostage incident was the low education levels of the officers. The article “Arizona Prison Boss” stated that Dora Schriro found that most of her officers were below the standards. Bitton states that most of the people who become correction officers have only high school diplomas or GED’s. Dora Schriro, however, conducted extra training with her officers’ to make sure everyone got up to the proficient levels necessary. On a different note, the training in Bitton’s study seems to be very structured and organized. It may not have covered how to handle female inmate or have interaction with inmates in general, but it was proficient. Dora Schriro told of a completely different Arizona system. She said that “even though the DOC had revised its emergency response strategies years ago, they had never implemented the changes…” There was not even a way to know what the officers even knew because training was not standardized (Arizona’s Prison Boss).

Prisons have always been seen as gendered organizations. Prison inmates need big, strong, masculine men to keep the order and to prevent violence by being a symbol of violence. Women are seen as inferior and not strong enough to enforce the rules and regulations. Women should not be introduced to male inmates’ masturbation or their crude comments and sexual harassment. If by chance women are working in the prison systems, they should be behind a computer or filing paperwork. Under no circumstances should women be working directly with inmates. At least this is the perception many men have about women working in prisons (Bitton, 2003). I happen to like the perception that is portrayed in the article, “Arizona’s Prison Boss” (2004). The article shows Dora Schriro, the head of Arizona’s Department of Corrections, as very capable and she has a vision that she believes in. Instead of conforming to the ideologies of society she went against the bar and has been working in the corrections department for 30 plus years. Not only is she running Arizona’s prison system, but she came from Missouri where she headed theirs as well. Schriro handled the hostage seize with great poise and got everyone out alive, which is something no man has ever done (Arizona’s Prison Boss, 2004).

Lois Fraley, the officer who was held hostage, also showed that there is more to being an officer than size and muscles. She used her brain and was able to get her captors to see her as a human, she stopped bathing so her captors would not rape her again, and she stopped drinking water so she would not have to subject herself to peeing in front of the two men. Most importantly, she stayed alive to tell about it, even when she had thoughts of suicide (Inside the Tower, 2004). Fraley also showed bravery when she went to the court hearing and faced her captor even though she was terrified. Bitton’s study may have a little bearing in this instance. Her study showed that men were worried about this exact thing happening to women prison officers. They may content that she never should have been there, but all in all I think she handled herself very well.

Bitton’s recommendations focus on attaining a gender equal facility and diffusing the perceptions that many people have of prisons, such as, being overly violent (At Work in the Iron Cage, 2003). So, in this case, no I do not think that Bitton’s recommendations would have helped the situation. In fact, I think that it hurts her cause. The Arizona crisis shows a women being raped, beaten, and emotionally abused, which is something that is rare in its occurrence, but it portray the opposite of what Bitton is trying to achieve. If you look only at the fact that Arizona’s head of the Department of Corrections was a women and that she got everyone out of the situation alive than yes, it helps Bitton’s cause.