Why Become A Correctional Officer

A lot of people hear corrections and they think of correctional officers. They usually think of them as the candidates that failed to make it onto the police force or as people who barely made it out of high school and needed a job. While this analysis of the job may be true in some instances, there a lot of people that go into corrections for better reasons. They are people who want to be able to help others turn their lives around and become a functioning piece of society. A correctional officer is one way someone could do this but there are plenty of jobs in corrections that really get into helping people. I have looked into plenty of jobs in the corrections field and have found a lot of interesting ones, I have found others that I never
My first thought was that it was really just a babysitting job but watching over criminals instead of kids, but just like any job there is a lot more that goes into it than just that. It can be a very dangerous job and most people, me included, have probably never realized that. Depending on what kind of facility it is, there are plenty of stressful situations an officer will have to handle such as fights, riots, and inmates trying to kill one another or even the officers. Correctional officers have to be able to de-escalate any given situation and keep a calm composure while working which is very difficult. This job is not as hands on when it comes to really getting into helping people turn their lives around. It
A probation officer has a lot of the same responsibilities as a correctional counselor, but in a different location. Probation officers usually have their offices at the local courthouse and even drive out to the home of the offenders in order to keep track of what they are doing and keep them from becoming repeat offenders. I also never realized that a probation officer could be thrust into dangerous situations as well when driving out to check on an offender. Probation and Parole officers have to stay in contact with offenders on probation and with convicted criminals that are out on parole, which can cause them to stay on-call 24 hours a day. The job requires the officer to read situations and have people skills, to listen and to understand where an offender is coming from and help them, but they also need to be firm when working with the