Integrating the Keepers: A Comparison of Black and White Prison Guards in Illinois

This article attempts to verify empirically the popularly held assumption that replacing veteran white rural prison guards with young black urban guards will significantly ameliorate tension, strain and conflict in the prison community. At issue sociologically is whether the attitudes of prison guards can be better accounted for by the exigencies of the role or by such a crucial background variable as race. The authors administered a questionnaire to 231 in-service Illinois guards. While black and white guards show some differences in their attitude toward prisoners, correctional goals, administrators and the guard role, these differences are not consistent and do not permit us to conclude that black guards will perform differently than whites.