Citation

Hicks AM. J. Contemp. Ethnogr. 2012; 41(6): 636-667.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0891241612452139

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In this article, I examine how prison chaplains are socialized to the risks of working with inmates. The dialectical tension of prison work--both routine and repetitive while also potentially uncertain and volatile--requires a distinctive working personality (see Skolnick 1966). I argue that the institution has a significant impact on the construction of a workplace culture defined primarily by risk management. The institutional culture of corrections creates perceptions of risk that chaplains come to internalize and negotiate in various ways. Using qualitative interview data, I discuss chaplains' management of risk. I conclude by discussing the relationship between working in a total institution and the development of a working personality unique to correctional chaplains.

Language: en