Corrections internships offer real-world experience
A career in corrections is not what you see on television and in the movies.
Each semester, students from the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, part of the Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions, gain a glimpse of what it is really like through internships with the Arizona Department of Corrections.
Greg Fizer, warden of the Arizona State Prison Florence complex, says that there are a wide range of jobs from case management to education to religious services, and internships provide a learning experience in an agency that is a huge part of the criminal justice system.
“It is not an easy component of criminal justice to work in, and it is certainly not an arena of work for everyone,” he says. “A lot of corrections is about practicing effective communication skills and working with individuals who have low self-esteem and who have often given up on achieving success in any endeavor.”
Fizer says a typical workday depends on the job classification and shift. Like hospitals, correctional facilities are a 24-7, 365-days-a-year operation.
Correctional complexes such as the Arizona State Prison Complex in Florence, with 4,000 inmates and 1,200 staff, are similar to little cities in terms of functions and responsibilities. Security staff serve similar functions to police officers. Case managers are similar to social workers. Administrators are similar to public officials or mayors. There are teachers, librarians, college instructors, medical providers, dentists, mental health providers, maintenance staff, business managers, IT specialists, food service personnel, work crew supervisors and chaplains.
Stephanie Morse, a senior studying criminology and criminal justice has been interning with the Arizona Department of Corrections within the mental health program. She assists the mental health staff in their treatment of severe mentally ill inmates through psycho-education, group therapy and treatment planning.
Morse was given the task of coordinating a mentor program for mentally ill inmates in which higher-functioning inmates assist lower-functioning inmates.
“While this program is relatively new, we are beginning to see positive changes in the inmates who are being mentored as well as the inmates who are mentoring,” says Morse.
“We want the internship to be an interesting, informative, and a worthwhile investment in a student’s overall education,” says Fizer.
Fizer pursued a career in corrections after becoming interested in criminal justice and psychology. During his senior year, he held an internship in juvenile probation.
“I was deeply interested in the psychology of the offender. I was also drawn to the hurt and damage that many had suffered at some point in their life,” says Fizer.
Correctional management has shifted from a primary focus on security, control and containment to a focus on reentry preparation.
He says that the Arizona Department of Corrections “embraces the understanding that as a component of the criminal justice system, our contribution to public safety is to prepare offenders to reenter society with more skills, more education, better work ethic and more adaptive cognitive processing than when they entered the criminal justice system.”
“I believe a significant amount of humanitarian work can be done as a correctional administrator, both for the offender and for the offender’s significant others,” he says. “Corrections is full of individuals who work in the field because they have compassion and understanding for human beings.”
Students who participate in internships may be able to earn college credit. More information on the Arizona Department of Corrections internship is available on the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice internship site. For information on internship opportunities across all four schools in the college visit the college site or Connect.