Lack of Staff diversity in prisons Research Paper

Lack of Staff diversity in prisons - Research Paper Example Added to this is the diverse racial and ethnic population in today’s prisons, the diverse levels of education of the prison population, the lack of diversity of staff in the corrections system and the need for educational support that is equitable for all prisoners. Lack of Staff Diversity in Prisons Introduction There has been a dramatic increase over the past few decades in the number of women who enter the field of corrections and in fact, there is reported to be significantly more women employed in jails and prisons than men. This has resulted in gender-based issues relating to corrections employment that needs examined in the research. In addition, there has been a significant increase in the number of women who are being incarcerated in today’s prisons and this too has affected and served to change the face of the environment for those employed in prisons corrections facilities. Added to this is the diverse racial and ethnic population in today’s prisons, t he diverse levels of education of the prison population, the lack of diversity of staff in the corrections system and the need for educational support that is equitable for all prisoners. I. ... y reported having been conducted at three Midwestern prisons states finding that â€Å"no relationship between gender and job stress was found.† (Lambert, et al, 2007, p.18) A separate study conducted of correctional officers at a Southwestern correctional facility reports findings that â€Å"no significant relationship between gender and job stress† was found. (p.18) In yet another study conducted among Pacific Northwest correctional officers findings show that â€Å"†¦female and male staff had similar levels of burnout in terms of emotional exhaustion and personal accomplishment.† (Lambert, et al, 2007, p. 18) Findings show that female and male respondents â€Å"generally reported the same level of job stress.† (Lambert, et al, 2007, p. 18) Lambert et al (2007) reports that the research on differences in corrections to date on gender issues is â€Å"rather mixed. There is support that men and women differ in some areas, while in other areas, there appears to be no gender difference between correctional officers and their works and work attitudes.† (p.19) Britton (1997) reports conclusions from a qualitative study that â€Å"gender was important in how correctional staff perceived their work environments† although quantitative studies are reported to have found no differences. However, other quantitative studies did find differences in this area of study. The work of Reijnders (1996) entitled â€Å"A Library Service for Multicultural Groups in Dutch Prisons† reports that many of the prisoners in the Netherlands are not able to understand Dutch and this results in isolation for these prisoners. However, delivery of books in the language of the prisoners assists in easing the time they are incarcerated. However, gathering a collection of foreign books that are diverse in