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Jason Rung

Spending three months in prison is not the typical student’s ideal summer vacation. However, Justice Systems major Jason Rung happily spent this past summer interning at Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison. From this experience, he not only discovered what happens behind the walls of a prison, but also what he wants to do after graduation.

When he first started, Jason was a little apprehensive, because he had never been in a prison before. “My first three days I was really jittery and stayed close to my escort…I had heard all the horror stories and how they go after the new guys…they would try to con me and a lot of them would yell some pretty abusive stuff at me…But then I started interacting and talking to them more--you learn what guys are more likely not to harm you and what guys you have to watch your back around.”

At Fort Madison, he worked first with the correctional officers and then later with the counselors. As a correctional officer, he followed the other officers, helping them with little jobs. Since the prison included all three levels of security (minimum, medium, and maximum), he was able to work at each level and see the whole operation. He supervised the inmates, monitoring their movement to and from their cells, and made sure no fights broke out. “If there were problems, another officer and I would just talk to them, trying not to dog on them too much, and treat them like actual people.” Later, when he worked with the counselors, he shadowed them as they walked around the ranges of the cell houses, speaking to the inmates about any problems.

From working both jobs, Jason realized that he preferred working as an officer because there was more interaction with the inmates. “A lot of times as a counselor, the inmates will come into the office and they’ll speak to the counselor there. Whereas the officers will speak with them in their cells so you get to see and be part of the everyday activity that goes on in the cell…The best part about the job was when I would interact with the inmates. They would open up and actually talk to me as if I could relate to them.”

Besides learning about the work in a penitentiary, Jason gained some practical knowledge as well. “Most of [the inmates] were pretty open about what they did and some of them were pretty vocal about it. There were times when they would try to pull my leg and con me and try to make me feel sympathetic towards them. That was the best experience I had that will help me out in the future, because I’ll know when someone is pulling my leg or if they are actually being honest with me.”

Jason also earned eight hours of credit, though he didn’t receive any pay and had to pay for the credit hours. “It was sort of an ongoing joke among the inmates, they would say, ‘This guy likes it so much here that he’s paying to come here everyday.’”

Jason discovered that a job in a penitentiary was exactly what he was looking for. “I like the fact that everyday is different. There is a kind of routine in the tasks that you do, but everyday is different because you encounter a different inmate in a different mood in a different frame of mind everyday. It keeps the job from being monotonous.” He hopes to get a job at Iowa State Penitentiary after graduation this spring. “I eventually would like to get into management, but I would like to start as a correctional officer, because I feel that that’s the best way to establish a rapport with the inmates.”