NEWS
Nontraditional women: Female jail guards meet
the challenge
Herald News Intern
MERCER COUNTY
By Karen Huynh
Three local women go to jail every working day
and wouldn’t have it any other way.
One of them, Erna Craig-Rea, is deputy warden at
the Mercer County Jail, which usually houses 40
to 45 female inmates and about 200 to 240 males.
Not only are females outnumbered inside the
cells, but also when it comes to guarding the
cells.
In 1981, county jail officials were looking to
hire a woman with a medical background to become
the jail’s first female guard. Mrs. Craig-Rea
was an emergency medical technician and decided
to apply for the position. She slowly worked her
way up to counselor, then captain in 1995 before
being promoted in 2005 to deputy warden.
Mrs. Craig-Rea realized early in her career that
there would be no special provisions just
because of her gender.
“I think I was put to the test, to see if I
could measure up to male co-workers,” she said.
“It started out rough, but made me stronger
because I strived super hard to prove myself
worthy.”
Mrs. Craig-Rea said she took the challenge and
went about laying the groundwork for other
female prison guards who would follow.
“I tried to set the path, so we would be, in the
prison, as equals,” she said.
Today, more and more women are entering the
field.
Dealing with the daily stresses of interacting
with everyone from inmates, fellow guards,
supervisors and prison board members is no easy
task –– particularly when it comes to inmates
with behavioral problems.
“A lot of the inmates’ lives become our
responsibility,” Mrs. Craig-Rea said. “So when
their daily needs, mental health and physical
well-being go out of sync, or if something isn’t
right, it causes stress.”
Her years of experience have shown her that
female guards and officers are no less capable
than their male counterparts.
“There are no physical limitations because we
are expected to attend the same training, use
the same weapons, reach the same qualifications,
so there is no differentiation,” Mrs. Craig-Rea
said. “Some women are tough, if not tougher than
some men,” she added.
Gender is observed during strip searches, which
are conducted by female guards for female
inmates and by male guards for male inmates.
Guards, who are not allowed to carry weapons in
the prison, must rely on their police academy
training to protect themselves against attacks.
“Naturally, women –– because of their size ––
feel more at a disadvantage,” said Cristina
Rains, who has been a prison guard since
November 2004. “The men here use muscle more.”
Women must be more intuitive, rely on common
sense and interpersonal communication skills to
talk themselves out of situations they may
physically be unable to handle alone, Mrs. Rains
said.
“It’s not about size, it’s about how you
interact and talk,” Erin L. Resele, a prison
guard for a little over four years, who was
named “Correctional Officer of the Year” by the
county, said.
Mrs. Craig-Rea said women often excel when it
comes to the technical aspects of monitoring and
running a prison from a control room because of
their ability to multitask.
But there is one challenge only female prison
guards might face during their career that their
male co-workers will not experience — pregnancy.
Being pregnant was one of the hardest challenges
for Ms. Resele. Not only did she have to worry
about protecting herself, she had to protect her
unborn child as well.
“There was no sympathy, you were expected to
come to work and expected to perform,” she said.
Mrs. Rains said her job sets a good example for
her daughter by showing her that women can be
strong, do “men’s jobs” and that she can, in
turn, do whatever she wants.
All three women had a bit of trouble adjusting
to the field in the beginning. “You have to work
to establish that groundedness,” Mrs. Rains
said.
“We’re women, we’re here and we can do the same
job as men, so respect us,” she added.
Whether female or male, to be a prison guard,
“You have to be thoroughly sensible,
level-headed, fair, consistent and you
definitely have to be able to roll with the
punches,” Mrs. Craig-Rea said. “Work hard and
never look back; always look forward.”
For more information on women in nontraditional
roles, check out “The Nontraditional Woman”
September issue of “Views & Voices.” magazine
|
