How Women Reshape the Prison Guard Role

Bibliographic Data

ID2368722
AuthorsLynn Zimmer (SUNY Geneseo, corresponding author)
Year1987
Volume1
Issue4
Pages415-431
Publication date1987-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueGender & Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0891-2432 • E-ISSN: 1552-3977
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/089124387001004005
OpenAlexW2010468821
LanguageEN
Citations received41
References cited28

This article describes the innovative job performance strategies used by women who work as guards in men's prisons. It suggests that women guards perform the job differently from men guards not only because women face structural and discriminatory barriers on the job but also because most women bring to the job a set of prior experiences, skills, and abilities different from those of most men. One of the reasons women may fail to receive positive performance evaluations in jobs traditionally held by men is that they are being evaluated on the basis of how well their work behavior matches that of men doing the same work. This article argues that there are multiple ways to perform jobs and that to expect women to perform jobs in the same manner as their male colleagues is a form of gender bias. Women should be judged by how effective they are, not by whether their approaches to work are similar to those of men

Criminology · Prison · Sociology · Computer Science · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis · Engineering · Gender Diversity and Inequality · Psychology · Sexual Assault and Victimization Studies · Social Psychology