Shall We Employ Women Guards in Male Prisons?

Abstract

Since the Civil Rights Act of 1964, United States prisons have begun hiring women to work as guards in male prisons. In recent years, this policy has been challenged in the courts on two grounds: first, that women guards are a security risk, and second, that they invade prisoners' privacy. Research cited in this article questions the validity of both of these claims. Women guards appear to reduce tensions in male prisons and to be in less danger than the male guards. Three criteria are suggested for evaluating privacy invasion in particular cases, and using these criteria it appears that most prisons can avoid privacy invasion of male prisoners without excluding women from positions as guards.