Corruption in prisons results in problems that are much more than dishonesty on employees’ part. To begin with, correctional officers and some inmates are usually injured by smuggled weapons. Regular corruption creates violent as well as the dangerous environment within the prison that affects each officer. Corruption by correctional officers results in abuses leading to the prominence of some groups of inmates at the expense of specific groups at risk. Also, leaders of gangs and individual criminals have used smuggled mobile phones to orchestrate crime as well as maintain outside criminal networks from prisons. Corruption as well results in breakdowns in the security of prisons that can lead to prisoners escape alongside other key problems.
Various environments foster corruption in prisons such as the system failures and individual opportunism. But, poor pay, as well as low hiring standards, has made prison officers vulnerable to corruption. The difference in earning potential between correction officer's salary and smuggling has the potential to make corruption appear as an attractive option. But, low salaries for prison officers are rarely the only basis for corruption. Whereas enhanced hiring screening and wages have the possibility of reducing certain prison corruption, more corruption emanates from the lack of consequences for any corrupt practice, unclear job expectations and a lack of supervision of correction officers.
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Corruption in prison is a complicated issue which involves ineffective relationships between officials of the prison and inmates, and contraband smuggling. Neither of the issues is easy to address, however, with detailed recommendations practitioners can develop best practices to assist their efforts towards addressing the types of corruption. Since correction officers do difficult and dangerous jobs, they should be well compensated, recognized and provided hope for advancement.
