Corrections_Today_Fall_2025_Vol.87_No.3

VIEW FROM THE LINE

think “Those people in Education get in the way of me doing my job.” Likewise, a new Teacher/Instructor in Education might think, “Why are these COs always interrupting my class to pull out a student? Don’t these Security people know I’m try ing to teach?” Keep in mind that many — if not most — of us in Education are passionate about our profession. The new Teacher/Instructor at your facility probably applied for the position because s/he has a genuine goal of helping offenders. (In my case, however, I applied for the Edu cation position at the prison because I needed a job). We teachers also want to provide the best educational experience possible for our students, and we’re enthusiastic about equip ping our classrooms with supplies, books, computers — any materials we can use in the herculean task of educating offenders. As a neophyte correctional Teacher/Instructor, I was constantly asking my principal, “Why can’t I have (insert the name of the item — scissors, fish tank, pens, paper cutter, snacks for offend ers, etc.) in my classroom? How am I supposed to teach?” Men and women in Security are in an excellent position to share with new Teachers/Instructors why items such as the above aren’t allowed in Education. I was surprised when a CO showed me how an offender can use a simple ink pen to make tattoos — who would have thought? On the topic of offender behav ior, remember we in Education may see offenders at their best when they’re in our classrooms. Security staff see offenders at their best AND at their worst.

After six months in Education at the prison, the Warden caught on that I was falling into the “These offenders are really nice guys — they just made a few mistakes” mind set. Warden T. assigned me to help with one of Security’s most tedious activities: cell searching. I was as signed to be part of a team of two seasoned COs and me. Not knowing how exhausting cell searching can be, I entered this new task with rel ish. The two veteran COs patiently walked me through “Cell Search ing 101,” since I didn’t remember much of what we’d been taught in Academy. particularly aware of gang activity, since these state facilities may have more gangs than are found in federal prisons. I recall the first item I searched was an offender’s photo album. “You can’t judge a book by its’ cover” proved true in this case. While the covers and first page of Offender Z’s photo album looked fine, the expe rienced COs suggested I check to see if anything was hidden behind the photos. What I found were pictures of scantily clad women in all sorts of provocative poses: “But Offender Z is such a great student! Teachers in state prisons need to be

Why would he have this porn stuff in his photo album?” The COs informed me that “Dr. Nourse, we see this stuff a lot — that includes from your guys in Education.” A brief scan of Offender Z’s personal correspondence revealed references to “f---ers” “a**holes,” “dikes,” and other undesirable expletives. As Se curity staff, consider working with your facility’s Principal/Education Program Manager and your facility’s Trainer to provide this cell searching opportunity for all neophyte Educa tion staff. Another aspect of offender life with which Teachers/Instructors may not be familiar is the possibil ity of membership in a Security Threat Groups (STG). Teachers in state prisons need to be particu larly aware of gang activity, since these state facilities may have more gangs than are found in federal prisons. My introduction to STGs oc curred when I solicited offender artwork to feature in a facility newsletter. One offender artist sub mitted a penciled drawing of a kitten playing with a ball of yarn. I thought to myself, “This picture is so cute! Offender X is certainly talented.” The seasoned principal noticed im mediately the drawing wasn’t cute. She directed me to hold the draw ing up to the ceiling light and look closely at the ball of yarn. Upon close inspection, I saw that two strings of yarn were twisted to form the number 13. This was my first experience with the “13” symbol, which I found out was a symbol of the Surenos. After this revelation, the artwork submissions idea was scrapped. →

Fall 2025 | Corrections Today

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