Hi, Allison's Hi Allison: Chapter Summary

2. What does it mean to be human? Did your concept change after reading the book?

Most of his time at Sing Sing was consumed being in close contact with the inmates, in dining halls and housing galleries, doing strip searches, searching cells, writing disciplinary infraction reports, and confiscating inmate contraband. In addition, because they live in an enforced state of near powerlessness, answering to inmates who required support with a seemingly endless range of personal complications occupied much of Conover’s time. Conover’s account of the correctional officer’s role is consistent with those opinions offered by others who have firsthand experience of prison life. Virtually all serious, firsthand interpretations of correctional work define a gap between the training and the realism of the job, official policies and procedures that require routine avoidance, poor associations between line officers and administrators, and the undermining power of stress on professional conduct and personal life.

The first thing that I found was intriguing was the importance of the on- the-job training officers which qualifies recruits to become regular officers. “A training officer named Hill, told us that our job would be usually difficult, because OJT’s irritate inmates. Inmates appreciate a consistent set of keepers, he explained; they don’t like having the rules enforced differently everyday. This comes to show that it will either make or break a correctional officer, given that they will have a difficult time dealing with inmates or they will have to work extra hard to keep the inmates in line. An interesting fact that Conover points out is that, “you’re going to learn, correctional officers that some things they taught you in the academy can get you killed” (Pg 99). While he spent time on the work force at Sing Sing, Conover came to realize that many other officers don’t follow the rules instructed at the academy. The academy is successful in teaching the future officers how the field of law works. However, the correctional officers in the facilities have to change the rules quite a bit, so that the inmates follow the instructions. An example of a negative aspect of the academy is that it teaches CO’s to not communicate with the inmates. But, sometimes that isn’t practical and instead, CO’s should create a relationship with the inmate so that they have a strong bond. Lastly, I

Conover’s purpose in writing this book not only to share his experience as a correctional officer but to also help readers get beyond the stereotype of the brutal guard seen on television and rumors but to see correctional officers as individuals, offering us a chance to understand

After reading the book I have gained a new understanding of what inmates think about in prison. Working in an institution, I have a certain cynical attitude at times with inmates and their requests.

At any given time, a single corrections officer, can expect to be outnumbered by upwards of 400 inmates (Conover, 2011). It can be chilling to work in the midst of hundreds of inmates, some of which initiate attacks and inappropriate relationships. However, other issues have impacted the psychological health and physical safety of the staff. Detrimental factors have included heavy workloads, the prisons physical structure, and a lack of support from both peers and superiors. Each workplace issue has been in addition to role problems, specifically role ambiguity and role conflict (Schaufeli & Peeters, 2011). It is believed that anyone of these undesirable facets of prison should be enough to deter the public from attempting to enter such

But what I had found is that this book was written by a liberal journalist, who loves convicted felons but dislikes and looks down upon Correction Officers . . . opps I mean "guards" as Ted Conover likes to say.

What was learned in the classroom that day, brought some great points that can be beneficial in real life. For example, when looking at the correctional officers who are power crazy, that is something that is good to have knowledge of. In addition, even if my career does not end up in a jail, you can see these characteristics in individuals in just about any workplace. The only difference is it is probably not to the same extent. Another lesson that can be benefiting is the fact that when working with this specific population problems can arise when they are released. This is something important to consider when entering the field. For example, David said that he played a positive role with the inmates for the most part although he still is hesitant for the individuals he helped. This brought the idea that what about if the individual does not have a positive role with the inmates and they are released. What are the concerns with seeing these individuals out in public? David summed it up very well about acknowledging them if they acknowledge you, but it is important not to bring attention to it due to the fact that some individuals do not want others to acknowledge their past. Furthermore, a great component that was learned was the fact that David touched on self care. In this field work it can be very easy to take the stress from the inmate's home with you. Some are just given a bad hand at life and did not deserve the abuse they encountered. David said that he would

Fights, killings, riots and having threats being caused to not only you but family members as well is not even the half of the things that seem to be going on inside a prison that a correction officer has to deal with on a daily. Inmates were being charged daily and taken into custody for actions that they have or have not decided to make which have already been called out by early theorist. These theories were created by man in which they believe that a person acts the way that they do based off of their perspective.

“Let me out! Let me out! I do not belong here,” says the predator in the cell. This is something correctional officers hear often. During duty they have many responsibilities and tasks they have to accomplish. The officer has to get everything done while being careful and not jeopardizing their safety. They run under a lot of stress trying to keep these criminals locked up and away from the civilians. Correctional officers put their life on the line in order to protect civilians and keep predators behind bars.

Now that i have started reading this book is does seem to reach me expectations. For Example one way the book reaches my

The story outline of your novel sounds very interesting, specially where she had to move back to her parents. I am sure there are several struggles and sub plots associated with that living condition. Also I guess there are interactions and narratives while she serve as a waitress and suffers from depression. these are the most strong area when a writer can put their creative effort to develop the story elements, specifically engaging in multiple complex ground. Meeting the gay guy would add the dimension in the story. It's also an addition to the story when she found how to become happy, because general flow of the stories always follow the path of more frustration and disappointments.

This was my first time entering a prison and I was nervous because I did not know what to expect; I thought the prison was going to be like the shows on TV, yelling, guards running around, just a very hostile environment. Along with mu supervisor, we entered the prison, toured the yard and several pods. The purpose of our visit was to inform the offenders who are about to be released about their transition to probation and parole. The forum was located in C block, as I entered the pod, there were about thirty offenders seated in the middle. The forum was an hour long, and within that hour we answered questions and preformed different scenarios about life outside of prison. The visit was a lot of fun; the offenders were very respectful and playful. They came to us after the forum to ask individual questions about supervision and had high hopes of being able to transition back into society

However if those who challenged the book asks the audience who have been deprived of reading the book for their opinion, those people wouldn’t agree with getting the book out of their library. It's a fun different book to read and can help students to criticize art and literature from different points of view.

true to the text that it can serve as a substitute for reading the book for