What does it cost to be a Prison Guard? - Beyond the Law

Prison guard, correctional officer. What does it really take to do a job like that? What is it like to do that job year after year? I got an e-mail from my brother's best friend. He read "Beyond the Law", enjoyed it and was kind enough to say so. What I think he particularly enjoyed was that I had used one of his stories to illustrate what it is like to be around convicts year after year. For years, this man was a correctional officer at San Quentin. This is just me, but I think he also got some value just from the brief discussion in the novel of the toll such work takes upon the men and women who are correctional officers. Not everyone in prison is a nice person. Not all of them are entirely sane. There is actual physical danger. As the years mount up, there is a price to be paid. There is physical wear and tear. There is the impact on the families. Not an easy job.