One of the most prevalent subcultures in prison is prison gangs. Upon entering prison, some inmates may already be gang members on the outside, making it easier to join other members of their gang on the inside. Others may not be a member of a gang on the outside, but once in prison, join a gang for various reasons. Some of these reasons may be for protection, the ability of the gang to acquire various goods and services, and the feeling of family.
You are employed as a correctional officer in a state prison. Your facility houses 2,000 inmates and is divided into multiple wings. The wing you are assigned to is a specialty wing where mostly gang members are housed. Even though classification tries to break up the gangs by not housing many members together, there are still pockets of the same gang members in each housing area. You have been working in this area for 7 years, and have the most experience of any officer in this wing. Recently, you had a run-in with one of the inmates who is a member of a gang known mostly for dealing drugs. It was his turn to clean the bathroom area, but he was refusing to do it. You had to firmly order him to clean. During this exchange, the inmate stated if he got out, he would come after your family and that this would be the last time he would clean the bathroom.
Inmates have made these types of statements before to officers and management has failed to discipline them. While you do not think the inmate will get into trouble, you take the remark seriously. Even though classification is responsible for assigning inmates to your wing, you have latitude to move the inmates into cells within your wing, if necessary, for certain rule violations. Because of the inmate’s demeanor, you are fully within your right to move him into another cell. You know if you move the inmate into another cell, they will take care of him because the other cells contain a majority of rival gang members.
Predict how moving this inmate into another cell will impact the orderly running of the institution.
Analyze one potential ethical issue that could surface, if you were to move the inmate into another cell.
Explain one strategy that could be used to assist with getting the inmate to clean the bathroom the next time it is his turn.
Evaluate one resource that could be enlisted to help avoid having to move the inmate.