by Amanda Larsen
The University of Illinois at Chicago
 

As I approached the building, I found the architecture to be comparable to that of a medieval castle. It was a beautiful tan-colored brick structure covering approximately 30 acres. The irony of the building was visible to the naked eye and included the following: posted signs reading "Do not pick up hitchhikers," the six towers occupied by armed officers, and the tall metal fence topped with barbed wire. I was at the Joliet Correctional Center in Joliet, Illinois. This was my first day of "on the job training" in the world of corrections.      I began my internship at the Joliet Correctional Center in the spring of 1996. I was completing my last semester before graduating with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice at the University of Illinois at Chicago. The internship was to be the stepping stone that I needed to determine my future as a dedicated employee in the Department of Corrections.

     The Joliet Correctional Center is one of four maximum security facilities for men in the state of Illinois. However, Joliet serves a special function as the Reception and Classification unit for the Northern part of Illinois. There are two separate cell houses in this prison. One cell house houses approximately 550 inmates who are serving their sentences at Joliet. In the other cell house, there are more than 600 inmates at any time who are received from all of the Northern Illinois counties. These men stay for approximately seven to ten days during which they are tested and classified for transfer and permanent assignment to one of the other 25 adult correctional centers in the state.

     I first started working in the administrative  building in the Field Services office. This office is basically responsible for the paroling of inmates, which occurs on a day-to-day basis. This office is also in charge of the administrative processes involved with work-release for inmates. These are the Field Service duties in a nutshell, but it is a continuous, complex job which I came to realize very quickly. I became familiar with the many tasks that are involved in the process including: contacting inmates for parole information, verifying the information, contacting and informing prestart zones of potential inmates, and completing the many forms involved in the parole process. I was taught and guided by Mr. Mike Allen, Correctional Counselor II, who is in charge of this office. Although I did not have a lot of contact with the inmates and other prison premises while working in the Field Services Office, I found it to be a valuable, critical experience.

     After familiarizing myself with the numerous components of this office, as well as some of the others, I gradually began to enter into the inmates' home, the cell house, Although often encountering the permanent population in the West cell house, I was assigned to the East cell house, which is directed by Superintendent Sheila Burford. This is where the transient population, the reception and classification of inmates, is housed. The Clinical Services supervisor, Samantha Franklin, arranged for me to accompany a correctional counselor into the cell house, Here, I was able to interact with many different actors involved in the prison system. I became acquainted with those involved in maintaining security and custody of the inmates, the correctional officers, sergeants, and lieutenants.

     I was received with smiles, compliments, and occasional hoots and hollers by the inmates. They seemed to be just as curious about me as I was about them. The correctional counselor, Diane Sternisha, would simply introduce me as an intern who was assisting her with her work on the galleries.

     The cell house, was a whole new experience for me. The architecture spoke for itself with its cement floors, heavy metal bars, and individual cells housing up to two inmates. The most notable aspect of the cell house, as well as the general prison premises, was the numerous locks located everywhere. Upon my first trip onto the gallery, I felt like I was being locked in. A correctional officer would unlock the gallery door, let us in, and close and lock the door behind us. Shortly thereafter, I realized that being locked on the gallery was basic freedom compared to living in a locked cell. I understood the need for security, not only for the employees, but for the inmates as well.

     I played the silent observer for the first few adventures into the cell house. Counselor Sternisha and I would go up and down the galleries, sometimes interviewing specific inmates for processing purposes, but more often just answering questions that anyone had. This was the most educational aspect of the internship. I was learning all of the necessary information needed to become a solid correctional counselor from an expert. I took many pages of notes on security classifications, institutional assignments, transfer information, and calculating approximate outdates. Once I felt I had acquired enough knowledge to respond to the inmates' questions, I began to "counsel" the inmates myself with Counselor Sternisha's guidance.

     But learning about the IDOC rules was not the only important part of my internship. I also learned about the moral obligation that any IDOC employee has to treating inmates with respect as human beings. I like to believe that I am a compassionate person without any prejudical views, who treats all people equally. Working with inmates in a maximum security facility, who have committed various crimes from D.U.I. to murder, put my beliefs and morality to the test. The following two incidents are prime examples of the morality issue I faced while working at the prison.

     One particular day in the cell house tested my ability to be an objective counselor working with other humans who have committed some very heinous crimes. In one day I met four men who were serving their sentences at Joliet for murder, one serial rapist, and one child molester. I was unaware of their backgrounds while conversing with them and another counselor. I would never have believed them to be any sort of criminal at all. After learning of their convictions, I became enraged. I was angry at them for perpetrating these crimes on other innocent humans. And yet, if we had not been in a prison cell house, where they had been sent as punishment for these acts, I would not have treated them any differently than I would any other person I met.

     Another unforgettable incident tested my ability to remain detached from my personal feelings. I was in one of the cell houses with a different counselor talking with some inmates, when we were called over by one particular man. He had some questions for the counselor, and we answered them, but also got into a conversation with him about the situation surrounding his crime. He went on to proclaim that he was wrongly imprisoned and that he had acted in self-defense during the homicide for which he was convicted. He portrayed himself as the victim of abuse and that he chose his only alternative in the situation, murder. As I walked away from this man, I began to feel sorry for him and a bit confused. The counselor recognized the look upon my face. She then asked, "So, do you believe that one?" I replied with, "I am not sure what to believe or how to feel."

     Later that day she changed my feelings of confusion and sympathy concerning this man to feelings of anger and rage. This man had raped and killed a young woman. He was hardly the victim of abuse, nor did he act in self-defense. He had been responsible for the brutal sexual assault and murder of an innocent victim. I was very upset and angry with this man. I hoped that I did not have to see him again that day or in the near future. I was afraid of how I might react knowing the circumstances of his crime. That night, I though deeply about myself and the world we live in. I did not try to understand why there is such heinous crimes as the one I had learned about that day; rather, I realized the need to detach myself from my "job" at the prison, in order to complete it without anger and prejudice towards any inmate, regardless of his criminal history.

     I found out on this day that I needed to know myself better than any one else in order to conduct myself properly in this sort of environment. I felt good about myself and the kind of person I was, and I wanted others to be aware of it also. But, I knew that in order to perform a job where I was constantly in contact with other people who may or may not possess the qualities I respect in a person, I had to respect and know myself. This is a concept that I learned in a criminal justice Corrections course: you must look in the mirror and into yourself and be comfortable and secure with what you see, then you will be able to work in the field of corrections.

     After completing my internship, I was able to give a more educated perspective on the whole prison system. Many people have called prisons a place of little or no possibility. The question then arises: how can a place of little or no possibility have possibilities? I was very fortunate to work in the controlled environment of Joliet Correctional Center. I feel that this facility does present the men with possibilities if they choose to partake. One of the most important programs offered at most of these facilities is drug education and rehabilitation classes. They also offer educational courses up to the second year in college. They have training for certain trades within the facility. The inmates are able to work in a desired field, if their behavior record allows, to enhance their ability within that trade. There are a variety of religious ceremonies offered, and several different religious leaders are available to give guidance to the men. These are some of the steps that must be taken for a person to improve their future after becoming involved in the criminal way of life. The facilities may offer these types of programs, but the person must choose to participate.

     Making the choice to participate in any one of these programs is making the choice to make a change in oneself. This is the most critical point in the life of a criminal, to change their ways. A correctional facility can offer intervention programs to make it a place of possibility, but the individuals must want the opportunities for themselves, in order to benefit from them. Without wanting a brighter future, all of the possibilities offered to a person are of no use. Therefore, it is up to each individual to seek out possibilities and use them to their fullest potential.

     I was only the fourth college intern to take on the daring feat of working at Joliet. The staff was somewhat apprehen-sive about my position as a student learn-ing the rules and regulations of a maximum security prison. But, I quickly adjusted and the staff grew to think of me as one of their fellow employees who was just new to the world of corrections. I met a lot of very nice people who were willing to guide me, a neophyte penologist, and to teach me the ropes. I appreciate all of the planning and preparations that were done by the prison staff and my sponsor from U.I.C., Dr. Jess Maghan. I feel that this internship was of great value to my education, as well as my future. I hope to one day be back at Joliet or another correctional facility as a true member of the Correctional Counseling staff.
 

     Amanda Larsen graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago in May, 1996. She is currently working as a police officer in suburban Chicago.