Integrity is essential to any profession, including criminal justice. Everyone, from a police trooper to heads of police departments, is expected to exercise the core virtues and ethics principles while accomplishing their professional mission. Integrity is also one of the most important requirements in the field of corrections: correctional officers operate in challenging and emotionally/physically violent environments, which represent a good test to their moral integrity. Any integrity compromises within correctional facilities are likely to end up in ethical and legal violations and even total disorganization and chaos. Such compromises made for personal gain will damage the public image of a criminal justice professional and undermine the public trust in criminal justice and fairness.
In order to understand the role of integrity in corrections, the concept of integrity should be broadly defined. According to Sturgeon (2010), correctional officers’ integrity is defined by his/her adherence to the fundamental moral and ethical principles and honesty, coupled with the state of being whole and a perfect moral condition. Simply put, a person who is morally stable has a clear understanding of the core virtues and moral obligations, which he/she is following in his/her work. The list of core virtues in the criminal justice system does not differ considerably from that in other professions, systems, or fields. It includes prudence, trust, courage and self-effacement, intellectual responsibility and honesty, as well as justice (Gaffigan & McDonald, 1997). The biggest integrity challenges facing the correctional officer are in his/her relationships with offenders. It is no secret that many offenders manipulate corrections professionals in an attempt to entrap them (Sturgeon, 2010).
The goals of such actions vary, depending on the situation, from the need for amusement and entertainment to the strong desire to gain control over the staff and facilitate escape (Sturgeon, 2010). The scope of the negative consequences following the loss of integrity in corrections can be enormous, and this is the main reason why professional integrity in corrections is so vital to the survival of the entire criminal justice system. The situation is quite similar, when it comes to relationships with offenders’ families: here, integrity requires that correctional officers avoid making any promises and focus on fulfilling their primary responsibilities, instead of fulfilling offenders’ wishes (Sturgeon, 2010).
The lack of integrity in the corrections profession manifests as any violation of the formal professional rules, regulations, procedures or position requirements, as well as civil and criminal law (Jenks, Johnson & Matthews, 2012). Corruption is, probably, the most common form of poor integrity in corrections facilities. Correctional officers may provide incarcerated offenders with certain physical privileges or supply them with illegal substances for personal gain. At the same time, they may apply excessive brutality and force against incarcerated offenders, which is also a form of poor professional integrity in corrections (Jenks et al., 2012). In either case, the lack of integrity is also a form of occupational deviance, which may have profound negative implications for the correctional officer and the entire facility. This is why it is important that the criminal justice system provides its professionals with regular knowledge and training opportunities to update their understanding of professional integrity.
Conclusion
Professional integrity is crucial for the survival of the entire criminal justice system. The field of corrections is no exception to this rule. Correctional officers should behave within the boundaries set by legal and occupational standards and follow the fundamental moral and ethical principles in their relations with incarcerated offenders, offenders’ families, colleagues, and the public. Any instance of occupational deviance may have profoundly negative implications for the public image and performance of the criminal justice system. This is why it is important to provide correctional officers with training and knowledge to update their understanding of integrity.
- Gaffigan, S.J. & McDonald, P.P. (1997). Police integrity: Public service with honor. U.S.
Department of Justice. Retrieved from https://www.ncjrs.gov - Jenks, D., Johnson, L.M. & Matthews, T. (2012). Examining police integrity: Categorizing
corruption vignettes. International Police Executive Symposium. Retrieved from http://www.ipes.info - Sturgeon, W. (2010). Integrity and the correctional professional. Corrections. Retrieved from
http://www.corrections.com
