In this article, I examine how prison chaplains are socialized to the risks of working with inmates. The dialectical tension of prison work—both routine and repetitive while also potentially uncertain and volatile—requires a distinctive working personality (see Skolnick 1966). I argue that the institution has a significant impact on the construction of a workplace culture defined primarily by risk management. The institutional culture of corrections creates perceptions of risk that chaplains come to internalize and negotiate in various ways. Using qualitative interview data, I discuss chaplains’ management of risk. I conclude by discussing the relationship between working in a total institution and the development of a working personality unique to correctional chaplains.
AckerJames R.ThomasBrewerEamonnCunninghamAllisonFitzgeraldJamieFlexonJulieLombardBarbaraRynBivetteStodghill. 1991. A glimmer of light in the shadows of death: Condemned prisoners’ access to spiritual advisors—An assessment of policies and practices. Contemporary Justice Review2 (3): 235-60.
2.
AlbertEdward. 1999. Dealing with danger: The normalization of risk in cycling. International Review for the Sociology of Sport34:157-71.
3.
AllenBudBostaDiane. 1981. Games criminals play: How you can profit by knowing them. Sacramento, CA: Rae John Publishers.
4.
ArmstrongKenSullivanJennifer. 2011. Suspect a model inmate, with a chilling history outside the prison walls. The Seattle Times, February1, A1.
5.
AveryWilliam O.1986. Toward an understanding of ministry of presence. Journal of Pastoral Care40 (4): 342-53.
6.
BartleyNancy. 2011. Monroe suspect had bite marks, scratches. The Seattle Times, February2, A1
7.
BeckUlrich. 1992. The risk society. London: Sage.
8.
BergBruce. 2001. Qualitative research methods for the social sciences. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
9.
BiernackiPatrickWaldorfDan. 1981. Snowball sampling. Sociological Research and Methods10:141-63.
10.
CelsiRichard L.RoseRandall L.LeighThomas W.1993. An exploration of high risk leisure consumption through skydiving. Journal of Consumer Research20 (1): 1-23.
11.
ChanSharonOstromCarol. 2011a. Monroe guard complained about working solo before inmate killed her. The Seattle Times, January30, A1.
12.
ChanSharonOstromCarol. 2011b. Slain prison guard feared danger of working alone. The Seattle Times, January31, A1.
13.
CharmazKathy. 2006. Constructing grounded theory: A practical guide through qualitative analysis. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
14.
ClemmerDonald. (1940) 1958. The prison community. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
15.
CoffeyAmandaAtkinsonPaul. 1996. Making sense of qualitative data. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
16.
Commission on Safety and Abuse in America’s Prisons. 2006. Confronting confinement. New York: Vera Institute of Justice.
17.
CorbinJulietStraussAnselm. 2008. Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
18.
CoserLewis A.1974. Greedy institutions: Patterns of undivided commitment. New York: Free Press.
19.
CovertHenry G.1995. Ministry to the incarcerated. Chicago: Loyola Press.
20.
CrawleyElaine. 2005. Prison officers and prison work. Prison Service Journal157:3-10.
21.
CresseyDonald. 1959. Contradictory directives in complex organizations: The case of the prison. Administrative Science Quarterly4:1-19.
22.
CrouchBenMarquartJames. 1980. On becoming a guard. In The keepers, edited by CrouchBen. Springfield, IL: C. Thomas.
23.
DiIorioJudithNusbaumerMichael R.1993. Securing our sanity: Anger management among abortion escorts. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography21 (4): 411-38.
24.
DingwallRobert. 1977. Atrocity stories and professional relationships. Work and Occupations4 (4): 371-96.
25.
MichaelEmersonSheldonRobert M.MessingerL.1977. The micro-politics of trouble. Social Problems25: 121-34.
26.
FeeleyMalcom M.JonathanSimon. 1992. The new penology: Notes on the emerging strategy of corrections and its implications. Criminology30: 449-74.
27.
FitzpatrickJohn S.1980. Adapting to danger: A participant observation study of an underground mine. Sociology of Work and Occupations7 (2): 131-58.
28.
FontanaAndreaFreyJames H.1994. Interviewing: The art of science. In Handbook of qualitative research, edited by DenzinN.LincolnY.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
29.
FortnaVirginia Page. 2004. Does peacekeeping keep peace? International intervention and the duration of peace after civil war. International Studies Quarterly48 (2): 269-92.
GarlandDavid. 1990. Punishment and modern society: A study in social theory. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
32.
GlaserDaniel. 1964. The effectiveness of a prison and parole system. Indianapolis, IN: Bobbs-Merrill.
33.
GlaserBarneyStraussAnselm. 1967. The discovery of grounded theory. Chicago, IL: Aldine.
34.
GoffmanErving. 1961. Asylums. New York: Anchor.
35.
GreeneJack R.1987. Foot patrol and community policing: Past practices and future prospects. American Journal of Police6: 1-15.
36.
GreerKimberly. 2002. Walking an emotional tightrope: Managing emotions in a women’s prison. Symbolic Interaction25 (1): 117-39.
37.
HaasJack. 1972. Binging: Educational control among high steel workers. American Behavioral Scientists16: 27-34.
38.
HaasJack. 1977. Learning real feelings: A study of high steel ironworkers’ reactions to fear and danger. Work and Occupations4 (2): 147-70.
39.
HallinanJoseph. 2001. Going up the river: Travels in a prison nation. New York: Random House.
40.
HolsteinJamesGubriumJaber. 1995. The active interview. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
41.
HolyfieldLori. 1997. Generating excitement: Experienced emotion in commercial leisure. In Social perspectives on emotion, edited by Rebecca J. Erickson and Beverley Cuthbertson-Johnson. Greenwich, CT: JAI.
42.
HorowitzRuth. 1986. Remaining an outsider: Membership as a threat to research rapport. Urban Life14:409-30.
JonasLilian. 1999. Making and facing danger: Constructing strong character on the river. Symbolic Interaction22 (3): 247-67.
49.
KerleyKentMatthewsTodd L.ShoemakerJessica. 2009. A simple plan, a simple faith: Chaplains and lay ministers in Mississippi prisons. Review of Religious Research51 (1): 87-103.
50.
KerleyKentBartkowskiJohn P.MatthewsTodd L.EmondTracy L.2010. From the sanctuary to the slammer: Exploring the narratives of evangelical prison ministry workers. Sociological Spectrum30: 504-25.
51.
KleinmanSherryl. 1981. Making professionals into persons: Discrepancies in traditional and humanistic expectations of professional identity. Sociology of Work and Occupations8 (1): 61-87.
52.
KleinmanSherryl. 1984. Equals before God: Seminarians as humanistic professionals. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
53.
KvaleSteiner. 1996. InterViews: An introduction to qualitative research interviewing. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
54.
LaurendeauJason. 2006. He didn’t go in doing a skydive: Sustaining the illusion of control in an edgework activity. Sociological Perspectives49 (4): 583-605.
55.
LaurendeauJasonVan BrunschotErin G.2006. Policing the edge: Risk and social control in skydiving. Deviant Behavior27: 173-201.
56.
LeedyPaul. 1993. Practical research: Planning and design. New York: Macmillan.
57.
LoflandJohnSnowDavidAndersonLeonLoflandLyn H.2006. Analyzing social settings: A guide to qualitative observation and analysis. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
58.
LoisJennifer. 2005. Gender and emotion management in the stages of edgework. In Edgework: The sociology of risk-taking, edited by LyngStephenNew York: Routledge.
59.
LombardoLucien X.1981. Guards imprisoned. New York: Elsevier.
60.
LyngStephen. 1990. Edgework: A social psychological analysis of voluntary risk-taking. American Journal of Sociology95: 851-86.
61.
MartinJonathanSullivanJennifer. 2011. Authorities fooled again by dangerous inmate?The Seattle Times, February1, A1
62.
MayerJohn E.AaronRosenblatt. 1975. Encounters with danger: Social workers in the ghetto. Work and Occupations2: 227.
63.
MeadGeorge H. (1934) 1950. Mind, self, and society. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
64.
MillerWilliamFreyJ. H.1996. Skydivers as risk-takers: An examination. Humanity and Society20 (4): 3-15.
65.
NatalierKristin. 2001. Motorcyclists’ interactions of risk and hazard. Journal of Sociology37:65-80.
66.
NorwoodFrances. 2006. The ambivalent chaplain: Negotiating structural and ideological difference on the margins of the modern-day hospital medicine. Medical Anthropology25: 1-29.
67.
O’ConnorThomas. 2004. What works, religion as a correctional intervention: Part I. Journal of Community Corrections14 (1): 11-27.
OpataJosiah N.2001. Spiritual and religious diversity in prisons: Focusing on how chaplaincy assists in prison management. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.
70.
OwenBarbara. 1988. The reproduction of social control: A study of prison workers at San Quentin. New York: Praeger Press.
71.
PooleEric D.RegoliRobert M.1980. Role stress, custody orientation, and disciplinary actions: A study of prison guards. Criminology18 (2): 215-26.
72.
Religious Programs. 1983. Corrections compendium7 (7): 1-11.
73.
RiemerJeffrey. 1977. Varieties of opportunistic research. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography5 (4): 467-77.
74.
RileyJohn. 2000. Sensemaking in prison: Inmate identity as a working understanding. Justice Quarterly17 (2): 359-76.
75.
RothmanDavid J.1980. Conscience and convenience: The asylum and its alternatives in progressive America. Boston, MA: Little, Brown.
76.
RubinHerbert J.RubinIrene S.1997. Qualitative interviewing: The art of hearing data. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
77.
SchilderDavid M.1999. Inside the fence: A handbook for those in prison ministry. New York: Alba House.
78.
ShawRichard D.1995. Chaplains to the imprisoned: Sharing life with the incarcerated. New York: Haworth.
79.
SkolnickJerome H.1966. Justice without trial: Law enforcement and democratic society. New York: Wiley.
80.
SoloveDaniel J.1996. Faith profaned: The religious freedom restoration act and religion in the prisons. The Yale Law Journal106 (2): 459-92.
81.
SundtJody L.CullenFrancis T.1998. The role of the contemporary prison chaplain. The Prison Journal78 (3): 271-98.
82.
SundtJody L.CullenFrancis T.2002. The correctional ideology of prison chaplains—A national survey. Journal of Criminal Justice30 (5): 369-85.
83.
SundtJody L.DammerHarry R.CullenFrancis T.2002. The role of the prison chaplain in rehabilitation. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation35 (3-4): 59-86.
84.
SykesGresham. 1965. The society of captives: A study of a maximum security prison. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
85.
TatarMaria. 1992. Off with their heads: Fairy tales and the culture of childhood. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
86.
TollRobert. 2004. How a multifaith chaplaincy program operates in a county detention center. American Correctional Chaplaincy Association. http://www.correctionalchaplains.org/ (accessed November 12, 2009).
87.
TribeRoy M. G.RomerilJeannine D.2000. Vinegar and oil: Are the moral/ethical decision processes by professional prison chaplains superior to hospital chaplains?Journal of Pastoral Care54 (3): 311-24.
88.
TullochJohnLuptonDeborah. 2003. Risk and everyday life. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
89.
TurnerRalph H.1976. The real self: From institution to impulse. American Journal of Sociology81(5):989-1016.
90.
TurnerVictor. 1969. The ritual process: Structure and anti-structure. Chicago, IL: Aldine.
91.
U.S. Department of Justice. 1993. Survey of state prisoners, 1991. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
92.
UseemBertPiehlAnne M.2005. Prison buildup and disorder. Punishment and Society8 (1): 87-115.
93.
ValdesManuel. 2011. Payback sought for prison attacks. The Seattle Times, February2, A8.
94.
WacquantLoic. 2001. Deadly symbiosis: When ghetto and prison meet and merge. Punishment and Society3 (1): 95-133.
95.
WrightErik O.1973. The politics of punishment. New York: Harper and Row.
