Topic: The Club House / Women working in Corrections

In early 1979, I was hired as a correctional officer, a woman working in a men’s institution in California. The academy taught important information, but the real education came in the form of experience. In reading the comments and advise given, I smile when I see that the same advise about “be yourself”, “firm but fair”, “don’t try to act like John Wayne”. They all still ring true. One of my favorites was “don’’t take your job home”. I taught an “in-service training class” on the subject. But the reality is that you do. Recognizing when do is key. As humans, we have human emotions. We are supposed to. You are going to see some very ugly things, and you are going to be required to respond as a trained officer. You are going to make mistakes and hopefully they will be the learning kind, and not the kind that get you killed. And you will learn the language and culture of a system that is a city within itself. Some things, I’m very sure, have changed in the last 30+ years. But some things will never change. Women have a great deal to add to law enforcement in general, and corrections specifically. And, as in any other profession, the more you learn, the better you become.