Striking A Balance: Female Correctional Officers, Gender Role Stereotypes, and Male Prisons*

Abstract

This paper examines the strategies developed by female correctional officers to circumvent interactional and organizational barriers to advancement in the traditionally‐male work organization of the men's prison. Data for the analysis are drawn from interviews with female officers and other staff in a state department of corrections located in the western United States. In a dramaturgical‐like fashion, female officers seeking to advance must moderate–strike a balance–between a series of countervailing negative sex role stereotypes. However, regardless of their success in presenting a “balanced” image at work, female officers experienced stress from their responsibility of accommodating to this predominantly male work environment.