Prisons have been a staple within society for the past few centuries, with the goal and purpose evolving through time. Initially, prisons served as a means of detaining a perpetrator of a crime until a punishment could be carried out. In many cases this resulted in a form of corporal punishment such as beatings and in some cases, this was extended to methods of capital punishment. Due to the simplicity of the prison structure during this time, there was not a high need for detailed and well formulated staffing plan. As the prison system evolved, it became more structured and organized which is now our modern day prison system requiring the prisons to become a multi-purpose facility. By the 19th century, prisons were designed for the purpose of exclusively housing inmates and serving as a means of rehabilitation. With the advancement of the purpose of prisons, there became a need for a more in-depth leadership structure and task orientated staff. As a result, we now have a staff hierarchy in modern day prisons which is designed to work in the most efficient way possible by using a vertical leadership structure ranging from the guards to the warden of the facility. Many prisons work in a military style structure meaning that there is an overall leader followed by sector or squadron leaders of divisions within the facility that specialize in specific tasks to ensure that the facility operates in the most efficient manner. This structure is notably the most effective and efficient system that the prison system has experienced in its entirety, especially considering the volume of prisoners that are processed on the day to day basis. In order to better understand this process and system, this paper will dissect the current prison system in the aspects of the positions within the hierarchy along with the structure of the day to day operations used to create a structured facility.
To begin dissecting the modern day prison system, we will start at the lowest level within the structure which are the correctional officers or guards. Within this system, there is a separate hierarchy system that ranks these correctional officers. This secondary ranking is designed to designate these officers by levels of power within the facility as well as responsibilities within their job description. These ranks range from a standard correctional officer followed by, Sergeant, Lieutenant, Captain, and in some cases Major, Lieutenant Colonel, and Colonel depending on the system created within the department. Prisons typically work in a day-to-day monotonous manner in order to maintain the structure within the facility. The typical day begins at approximately 6am where the lowest level of the hierarchy takes their positions and serve as the main interaction between the prisoners and staff. Guards typically serve as the legs of the day-to-day operations within the prison system particularly carrying out the majority of tasks that are hands on or directly interacting with the prisoners. Some of the tasks include escorting prisoners to their scheduled destinations, monitoring prisoners, and ensuring that the rules set within the facility are followed accordingly. Although this is the lowest level within the structure, this level has one of the largest responsibilities within the structure because they have the most interaction with the prisoners and it is imperative that they execute their mission at a high level of efficiency.
From the lowest level information is forwarded up to the Captains within each unit which serve almost as a middle level management capacity and are ultimately responsible and supervise all of the Lieutenants, Sergeants, and Correctional officers. The Captains are responsible for forwarding and discriminating information to the Unit Managers of their respective area. Unit Managers serve as ideally the warden of their area and supervise all of the operations that are conducted within the scope of their unit. Depending on the size of the prison facility, will determine how many unit mangers are within the facility due to each manager being in command of a specific housing unit. Throughout the day these Unit managers oversee the day-to-day operations of the facility from a senior supervisory role along with spearheading several projects to reduce the risks within the facility and fulfill the missions and goals within the facility.
Unit Managers play an instrumental role in upholding the structure of the facility and standards within the prison facility. Due to this position being aligned with the tier of senior management, their job is enforcing all of the standards and expectations of employees set forth by the warden of the prison. For example, each prison has an employee code of conduct which specifically outlines appropriate relationships between correction officers and inmates within the facility. In the event that there is an inappropriate relationship between the two parties, the Unit Manger would be the personnel responsible for handling the situation. Unit Managers play a dynamic role in managing not only the prison officers but protecting the prisoners as well. These individuals oversee that all rules within the facility are followed according to protocol on both ends especially concerning issues such as prisoners being treated fairly, allowing them to live in a clean environment, and ensuring that they are allotted the opportunity to make contact with their family and love one. These tasks allow the prison to maintain a peaceful atmosphere which contributes to the smoothness of the day to day operations within the facility.
In addition to managing the individuals within the facility, Unit Managers are also responsible for assisting with the budgeting operations and the risk prevention plan of the prison. The main risk that most prisons face and must have a contingency plan for is riots within the facility and the most effective way to prevent this incident as well as what actions to take if the situation ever occurs. In order to plan for these situations these Unit Managers spend a significant amount of time studying the housing unit they are responsible for to better understand the individuals within it and meet with the other Unit Managers to access the risks within the prison. Some of the information that is important in these plans are relationships with individuals, gang affiliation, racial tensions, and other social issues that may be a problem such as the standard of living in other housing units. To help prevent some of the issues, budgeting plays a huge role. Arguably one of the easiest ways to create tension within the prison is lack of resources whether it be a shortage of food, clothing, or supplies which may trigger or insight deviant behavior that will manifest into the worst case scenario. Budgeting also effects the amount of staff members able to be present in regards to the officer to inmate ratio within the facility, which also plays a role in the level of rebellion and risk factors within the facility due to man-power being one of the most important resources available in ensuring that the facility runs smooth through the day-to-day operations.
The last stage of the hierarchy within the prison system is the Warden, which serves in the capacity of the CEO of the entire facility.
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