The Normative Code Among Correctional Officers: An Exploration of Components and Functions

The past few decades have seen a tremendous growth in corrections. As more prisons are built and more correctional officers are hired, it becomes important to maintain an ongoing inquiry into the socialization, work behavior, and attitudes of the staff. This paper is an exploration of the normative code among correctional officers. Using interview data gathered from a study of two Midwestern state prisons, it explores the extent to which officers are expected to conform to certain informal norms of behavior. The functions of this code for officers is also discussed, engendering solidarity among officers, providing clarification of action and a means of modifying or rejecting formally proscribed modes of action, regulating forms of behavior, and allowing officers to make supportive and meaningfully helpful relationships based on a commonality of action and values. The context of the prison and its association with a normative code is also examined.