New Jack: An analysis of Ted Conover;s time spent at Sing Sing

Essay by layhomaUniversity, Bachelor'sA+, January 2005

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        While attending his instruction at the Albany Training Academy, Ted Conover, was most likely imagining what his time spent at Sing Sing would be like. He would apply the rules and regulations he had learned, and enforce the set of laws that facility followed. With his experience and limited knowledge of how things are run in a corrections facility he imagined that going "by the book" was the most effective way to attain his goal, of an expose on the life of a corrections officer at Sing Sing. He soon would find out that while working in a facility like that, acting solely on rules was not the best way to execute his responsibility.

        Conover's time at Sing Sing did not start off smoothly. He started his work at there with his training fresh in his mind. He attempted to follow the rules "to the letter", as he was specifically instructed to do at Albany.

At first inmates blatantly ignored his commands, almost understandably. He was the "new jack" to them, and what were they getting out of doing what he said. For awhile Conover struggled to find his place in Sing Sing. He was unsure whether his best bet was to protect his colleagues or to earn the respect of the inmates by not being so extremely uptight and professional. He at first attempted to do what he thought was the right thing to, went against his instincts, and appeased the request of a fellow officer. Afterwards he stated "...I had just enforced a rule that wasn't a rule, for my 'brother in gray'." After consideration over the subject Conover got his first small, insight into the choices a corrections officer has to make each day. Slowly, through experience and determination, Conover understood what it was that made a...