Corrections at Work

TaLisa J. Carter is Associate Professor in the Department of Justice, Law & Criminology at American University.

"Few understand the people who work on the front-lines of our prisons, jails, and correctional facilities. In fact, for the most part, these individuals are invisible except that we acknowledge that the facilities that they work in are all too often considered toxic. Along comes TaLisa Carter, who brings her experiences as a correctional officer as well as a criminologist to appreciate the role, responsibilities, and factors that affect the work that correctional staff are involved in. This book facilitates a greater appreciation for the correctional workforce, and one that we can use to reconsider how to reform carceral facilities to better serve those who live and work in these facilities." - Faye S. Taxman, co-author of Handbook on Moving Corrections and Sentencing Forward: Building on the Record "In Corrections at Work, Carter combines personal experience with rigorous, innovative, and embedded scholarship to reveal the important work of correctional officers and the institutions that shape their work experience on the inside. She challenges the current binary conceptualizations of corrections work and describes the nuances of prison work, as well as how it is influenced by broader systemic structures and associated failures." - Beth Huebner, co-editor of Moving Corrections and Sentencing Forward: Building on the Record "Corrections at Work provides readers with a much-needed window into the world of correctional officers - who are often maligned and neglected in the study of criminal justice. Drawing on her unique experience as a former correctional officer turned scholar, she masterfully bridges the gap with her extraordinary grasp of the complex issues tied to the profession. Moving past the redundant studies on policing, Carter's book provides current and aspiring corrections scholars with a roadmap for understanding the inner workings of the corrections profession. The groundbreaking work introduces readers to her Institutional Response Model of Social Control that represents a promising way to understand institutional responses to employee behavior. Quite frankly, correctional administrators would be wise to consider her well-reasoned recommendations." - Shaun L. Gabbidon, co-author of Race, Ethnicity, Crime, & Justice: An International Dilemma