Women perfect for corrections career
by Maryann Callaghan
“ No , it ’ s not like Wentworth , far from it ,” Rhiannon Laws laughs when asked if her career mimics the hit Australian television prison drama series .
“ It ’ s a really good career opportunity and I thoroughly enjoy it .”
Rhiannon , 27 , has been a corrective services officer at Parklea Correctional Centre , a remand prison , for the past two years and she told the Independent she often gets amazed looks from people when revealing her job .
“ The idea of ‘ oh wow ’ that ’ s a crazy job what you do . And then you tell them all the benefits you make and they ’ re not as shocked ,” Rhiannon said .
“ I was so curious about what goes on behind the scenes . I have a couple of friends who are correctional officers , so I decided to join up ,” she said .
Lisa Barrett a 34-year veteran in the field , also laughed at the Wentworth analogy , adding ‘ no we are not covered in tattoos , piercings , flexing bulging muscles ’ - they are regular women working in a rewarding career which has long been dominated by men .
Parklea ’ s work force comprises 40 per cent of female officers . Both Lisa and Rhiannon believe it ’ s an “ equal opportunity career in which women have a lot of options ”, especially the fact women have a natural upper hand when it comes to good communication and negotiation skills .
Both were interviewed in conjunction with International Women ’ s Day . They shared their experiences and busted some myths about females working in the justice system – especially the fallacy they ’ re all ‘ blokey and ripped ’ and handling people being aghast when learning of their career .
What repeatedly comes to the fore with both officers is respect . If you treat inmates with respect , you will get respect in return .
As Parklea ’ s Head of Residence , Lisa , who over three decades made her way up the Corrective Services ranks to become senior assistant superintendent before joining Parklea ’ s senior management team in 2020 , is responsible for the accommodation of the 1350-bed facility .
Her role is to ensure the decency of inmates – their living conditions , entitlements and welfare are met , and they are treated with respect and dignity .
Commenting on if it was easier or harder for female officers to work in male prisons and vice-versa , Lisa said
“ personally , I haven ’ t had difference in extremes , you treat inmates the way you like to be treated yourself .
“ Women prisoners do have higher needs than men . They can be more emotional and more argumentative than men , so you engage your communication skills more .
“ However , women are easier to work with educationally with [ rehabilitation / life skills ] programs , as their children are their main motivator and they want to get back home to them .
“ Male prisoners are respectful of women officers in general … men don ’ t have to prove a point to a female officer through male peer pressure and ego and reputation or show how tough they are . But females have the upper hand with that natural ability to deescalate a situation through communication , talking and negotiation .
“ It ’ s important , I believe , women working in a male environment teaches men how to better treat women in general on the outside . If you treat each other with respect , you will receive it .” Rhiannon agreed . “ The men tend to be a lot more respectful of female officers … women in male institutions works very well ,” she said .
As a remand prison , Parklea detains inmates in custody who are awaiting court trials , sentencing or their case to be finalised .
While being detained for shorter periods of weeks or months , these inmates are offered basic living skills and a variety of programs – there ’ s an industry section , cabinet shop , metal shop , horticulture area , laundry and kitchen – and can receive a small salary .
“ Some inmates can ’ t read . It ’ s quite rewarding to see them learn how to read here … it keeps you going as an officer ,” Lisa said .
“ Some arrive very ill , you see them getting off the truck , they ’ re withdrawing from drugs and alcohol . Then they receive St Vincent ’ s care , talk and undertake care plans within prison and turn into futurefocussed people – that ’ s very rewarding .”
Rhiannon confirmed being part of the rehabilitation journey was the best part .
“ You see inmates come in withdrawn and stay in cell and don ’ t engage with anybody . They start a program like hairdressing or painting and within two weeks they ’ re out of that hole and doing programs giving them lots of opportunities to better themselves .” On any day , Rhiannon with be tasked with check downs , daily musters ,
Loving the job : Lisa Barrett and Rhiannon Laws work in Corrective Services at Parklea .
organising visits , court orders , phone calls and family visits for inmates .
While acknowledging the inherent risks of their work , both women said communication skills , talking things through , negotiating and respect of inmates is the focus at Parklea .
“ The use of force and restraint is the very , very last resort , always negotiate first ,” Lisa , a mother of two , said .
Joining up in the 1980s when women just became allowed to work in men ’ s prisons , Lisa faced staunch resistance from her family .
“ I have a personality that when people say I can ’ t do something it makes me more determined , so I went for the interview and was successful and graduated from the Corrective Services academy when I was 20 ,” Lisa said .
She quickly realised not all her male colleagues were happy to have her on the team .
“ The male officers automatically thought women were too weak and couldn ’ t look after themselves . On my first day at Emu Plains , not only was I not accepted by the staff , but the inmates gave me a hard time as well .
“ I really had to prove myself before some officers would even talk to me , but that was the culture back then and if you couldn ’ t handle it , you just left the job .” Despite the hurdles and having witnessed some graphic scenes , such as the aftermath of an inmate murder and helping deliver a baby , Lisa is glad she defied her family all those years ago .
Women like Lisa have blazed a trail for others to follow , making it much easier and more common for young women to pursue a career as a correctional officer .
Rhiannon ’ s parting words echo Lisa ’ s determination to ‘ just go for it ’.
“ Don ’ t doubt yourself and the negative responses you may get if you want to do it ,” she said .
“ We are seeing more and more young females wanting to step into this role and realising how challenging it is , but if they have the drive to do so and want to succeed , then they absolutely can do that .”
NOW HIRING Correctional Officers must successfully complete a 10-week full-time Primary Training course that equips officers with program delivery , weapons training and survival training .
For details go to dcj . nsw . gov . au / careers-atcommunities-and-justice-nsw .
swr999 . com . au
Streaming on
16 ISSUE 25 // APRIL 2023 theindependentmagazine . com . au BLACKTOWN CITY INDEPENDENT