prison guard?

Question

what kind of educational background is required to become a prison guard?

Answer 1

It's the same in my state as HoNeYB's state. You need a high school diploma. The rest of your training you get at a corrections officer's academy, which is similiar to attending the police academy. However, if you want to advance beyond a guard, you should work towards a criminal justice degree. Some universities have a corrections program. I'd advise trying the job first and see if you like it. I'm an attorney and I represent both a sheriff's department and a detention center. I think the sheriff's deputies have an easier task. When they need to, they can get into their car and patrol. A corrections officer is trapped in the Detention Center all day just like the prisoners. I don't mean to make it sound like a bad job, though. My detention center officers seem very happy with their jobs. I would imagine the job requirements that HoNeYB and I have mentioned are pretty uniform across the U.S. My detention center has an A+ rating from the feds (we house fed'l prisoners), so if our officers lacked necessary training I would have heard about it.

Answer 2

In some states, none. They look more at your experience for a prison guard job. A criminal justice degree may help, but where I live, there aren't any education requirements.