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Corrections In America

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Corrections in America
Introduction
According to Forbes, the top three most challenging careers in the United States include being a pilot, firefighter, and military personnel majorly due to the life risk involved (Karsten, 2017). Others include police work, events coordination, public relations and media jobs, and taxi driving. The criminal justice system provides working opportunities for a variety of jobs ranging from lawyers, judges, and policemen, to border patrol, child protection, immigration, and corrections. While it is easy to assume that the police or lawyers have the most challenging job in the industry, they also fall under the category of the well-paying jobs in the criminal and justice system. Unlike other jobs that are defined …show more content…

For this assignment, I was to visit a detention facility and once again I set off to carry out the assignment with notions I previously got from news and entertainment. I would have preferred to visit the infamous Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility (ADX) in Colorado for a maximum experience, but I settled for San Quentin State Prison located in California. Even though it has a lesser reputation for its harshness in comparison to ADX, it is still known for the largest death row executions in the country, and home to more than 3,000 inmates. I spoke to officer *Bob Smith (name changed due to a request for anonymity) who recounted his experience having worked there for 7 years …show more content…

First of all, I concluded that being a correctional officer was more challenging than being a police or lawyer because they are exposed to offenders all day on a daily basis and are prone to danger from fights and attacks from resentful, angry, or frustrated inmates. The media portrays them as mean people, but dealing with felons and maintaining order in such a large facility is a huge task for them. I also realized that this profession is not as highly regarded as working in the police force, and most of the staff is overworked, underpaid, and unmotivated. It is unfortunate that they are equally, if not more exposed to danger as police officers, yet their work goes unrecognized. After my interview, I also concluded that people who commit the most serious offenses can also reform their behavior and transform into useful members of society provided they get proper guidance. This conclusion reaffirmed my previous notion that prisons can also work as rehabilitative and not punishment

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