Doing Time Eight Hours a Day: Memoirs of a Correctional Officer

by James R. Palmer

Correctional officers face danger every time they go to work, and the public rarely appreciates the job that they do. Author James R. Palmer worked many years at the Kentucky Department of Corrections, spending seven of them with the solitary confinement unit. In this memoir, he looks back at his career and shares what its really like working in prison.

For example, inmates aren't afraid to use sharp objects to hurt officers, who just like the inmates often find themselves behind locked doors. Correctional officers also face constant exposure to diseases and infections, as well as constant stress that can upset family life and make sleep nearly impossible. While some people might say, If its that bad, then quit, correctional officers stay on the job for a variety of reasons, including a desire to serve and protect the public.

Doing Time Eight Hours a Day shares one mans firsthand experiences of what its like to be a correctional officer and rub elbows with some of the most dangerous men and women alive.

109 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 28, 2013

Reviews

[Петър Стойков · Rating 2 out of 5]

Доста плоска книжка със спомените на надзирател в американски затвор. Авторът не е добър писател, куците му опити за игри на думи те карат да искаш да си пръснеш черепа, а описаното от ежедневието в затвора, в който работи не е нито подредено, нито особено смислено или интересно.

[Lucas Fischer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty decent smaller book about what really happens in daily operations in corrections. I do recommend if you are thinking about a career in this field.

[Lana B · Rating 2 out of 5]

There was some good information in the book, but it was poorly written and really repetitive. The author explained the same things a few times over, even using the same verbiage sometimes. On the flip side, when he was describing other daily operations I had trouble understanding the picture he was painting (not referring to the areas where he said he couldn’t give more information for security reasons). I appreciated the effort in putting a glossary in the beginning, but some terms were missing, and others were never used in the book itself.

I love that he was trying to educate people on life inside correctional facilities, but unfortunately his writing distracted from his stories.

[Jonathan Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read!

Highly recommend! Great no BS approach to being a correctional officer in a prison facility. I learned a lot from this book