Female Parole Agents

The Division of Adult Parole Operations is important in monitoring people after they are released from our nation's correctional facilities.Even though women are being seen, and heard more in the criminal justice system, alot of coverage about females working in the criminal justice system is on women in law enforement,noted Berg & Ireland(2007).

In the article, "Women in Parole: Gendered Adaptations of Female Parole Agents in California" female parole agents are interviewed about their role in developing and maintaining a positivity for females in a typically male dominated career. In the study, 12 female parole agents were interviewed. 5 of whom were the first women to be employeed with the Dept. of Corrections for the State of Calfiornia.Each of the participants were asked questions which included their backgrounds, family life, what made them choose this career, and ,their supervising choice when dealing with parolees.The participants were a mix of races and backgrounds.Particpants were recommended because of their accomplishments while working in CDCR, with most being adminstrators.Their ages varied starting from their 40's all the way into their 90's, with the average age of around 50.
One of the participants explained, "I believe that rapport and intuition are very important in all aspects: for parolee compliance and agent safety. I liked most of them. I was never afraid of them.” In general to be a parole officer you have to understand that you cannot be afraid of parolees,because if you show even one bit of fear the parolee will most likely pick it up like that and use is to his or her advantage.

According o Berg & Ireland(2007), "these female parole agents relied heavily on the traditionally female trait of intuition in their daily field duties with parolees and, consequently, indicated that they felt little fear while conducting their parole agent activities"(p.482).An important factor I discovered was,"Research suggests female officers are equal in inherent competenceto their male counterparts in many respects, and that there is no difference between male and female officer performance records". However all of the agents that noted the prevelance discrmination, gender bias, and harassment in some form or another. One particpant shared her experience, that occured while in the parole academy. After being criticised repeatedly for not making the target during firerams training, she took it upon herself to take extra training and rangemaster courses. She eventually became a marksman, and a rangemaster, traning other agents how to shoot effectively.

Just like correctional officers, parole agents have to trust in their intuition to effectively do their jobs.These women and men, essentially put their lives on the line to make sure the public is safe with people who are paroled from correctional facilities. To make matters even more stressful parole agents usually have latge workloads, more than they should have. Agents sometimes even have to put their family and loved ones aside, to make sure their duties of being an agents are fullfilled.
I have interned at the Fairfield parole office since October 2008.In fact on my first day was when I realized I wanted to be a Parole Agent. These women and men who maintain the peace by monitoring and even counseling parolees have a huge impact on the safety of our communities. However,the public doesn't always realize what kind of person it takes to take such a huge responsibility.



SOURCES:
Berg B. & Ireland C."Women in Parole: Gendered Adaptations of Female Parole Agents in California"