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

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 it’s 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 it’s 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 man’s firsthand experiences of what it’s like to be a correctional officer and rub elbows with some of the most dangerous men and women alive.