 [The following is from an email from a former prison guard. She didn't identify the prison. It would have been nice to give those guys some well deserved publicity. Editor] Having worked as a correctional officer in Indiana has really opened my eyes to a whole different world. They tell us in training that it isn't our job to punish these guys, that their lack of freedom is their punishment, but, after just about 2 weeks inside the walls, it was very obvious that very few officers follow that belief. It's been said that the ones who were picked on as children by other kids end up taking this job to prove they're big bad men. I can't help but agree with that. They treat inmates with contempt and never want to do anything for them. The smallest request, such as "I need toilet paper" is met with "you shouldn't have gotten yourself in prison!" Most of the inmates are young men who have made mistakes, got caught and are paying for their mistakes. As you may have guessed, I no longer work [in the prison]. As soon as they decided I was decent to the inmates, they started finding fault with every little thing I did and spreading untrue rumors. Seeing as I'm a woman, you can imagine what the rumors were. I did care about those guys. They need to be treated with respect. They will eventually be out in society and [they] don't need to come home feeling total hatred for the world because they were mistreated [in prison]. I ended up quitting because of all the pressure the other officers and bosses put on me. All I could think was, "who will be nice to them if I'm not there?" I realize that they've broken the law, but it's a horrible life they have to live in there. I don't have any idea how to go about it, but things need to change.
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