Freedom and Death Inside the Jail.pdf - The Action Program for ...

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Freedom and Death Inside The Jail
Aside from strengthening their number, however, it seems
that jail officers themselves need to undergo some reformation
particularly in their attitude toward their profession. They need
to understand that their job is to help reform and not to look
down on inmates. According to the resident psychologist, some
officers treat inmates with utmost condescension thinking that
the latter are up to no good which is why they are in jail. “Jail
officers should assist in the inmates’ search for a meaningful life,”
points out the resident psychologist. “They must have a genuine
concern for the well-being of inmates. They should, therefore, be
very clear about their motives for joining the jail service.”
Such supercilious attitude toward inmates must have been
influenced by the training program that all jail officers undergo
before they are admitted to BJMP. The training adopts a military
orientation where the trainees are made to go through physically
rigorous activities and are made to think that they are preparing
for war. Officers, thus, think of the Jail as a war zone with the
inmates as the enemies they need to crush.
In the military training, officers are taught to be aggressive
in their approach to any challenge given them. They are made
to subscribe to such military tenets as “the fault of one is the
fault of everyone”; “what you see, what you hear, leave it here;”
and “command responsibility.” As a result, officers develop a
punitive culture of instilling fear and silence in the process of
“reforming” inmates.
The resident psychologist suggests that jail officers be re-educated
in their primary function which is to act as counselors to
inmates. Jail officers should help inmates overcome the trauma
of imprisonment and, eventually, adjust to life inside the Jail.
This requires adequate skill in human behavior, conflict management,
and human rights.
Moreover, jail officers particularly those assigned in the paralegal
section should be familiar with basic criminal law and
legal procedures. They should help inmates understand the
legal mess they need to sort out in order to get their freedom
back. This means that jail officers have to audit short courses
on legal studies.
Changing the jail officers’ attitude toward work, however, does
not change the fact that they are over-worked and underpaid.
They work long hours and beyond their job description but are
paid a monthly allowance that is only two-thirds of what their
counterparts in the PNP get. To augment their paltry income,
some of the jail officers are forced to take part in the black market
activities. They operate a billiard table or run a food stall or
finance a cigarette vendor or maintain a payphone. There are
jail officers who even resort to selling illegal drugs and extortion
(matik and hirit) for easy money. To discourage officers from such