Integrity, Ethics, and Professional Conduct
Integrity items test whether you can be trusted when no one is watching. In a correctional setting, a single false statement or accepted favor undermines your credibility in every future report and every future proceeding, so the exam treats honesty and refusal of gratuities as non-negotiable.
Core rules
- Write reports that are accurate and complete, including your own mistakes.
- Refuse gifts, favors, commissary items, and any relationship that crosses professional lines.
- Keep confidential information confidential, including inmate and staff matters.
- Report misconduct you observe, including misconduct by coworkers.
- Intervene when you witness harm or a policy violation, and report it promptly.
Worked example
An inmate offers commissary items in exchange for extra food at meal service and says he will 'keep an eye out' for you. The correct response: decline clearly, do not negotiate, document the contact, and notify your supervisor. Accepting the offer creates an obligation and a reporting failure even if nothing is delivered. The strongest answer includes documentation, because an unreported offer is itself a vulnerability.
Traps
Rationalizing 'small' gratuities as harmless. Covering for a coworker by writing a false count or a false round entry. Staying silent about observed misconduct out of loyalty. Omitting an error from a report because no one noticed it.