But there are many things in prison that they must buy. Soap, shampoo toothpaste etc. They are required to be clean showered, well dressed and clean shaven so they must have money to purchase these things, the family may not send them in to the inmate they must be purchased through the prison. Many private profit making corporations hire inmates to work for them. They are not even paid minimum wage for such work in most cases.
Some prisons have a hard time keeping staff so they are often short officers on a regular basis.
Most of the time officers do not quit because of trouble with the inmates. It is the other officers or higher ranking staff that cause them problems. Many new officers are taught in the training academy that they are just supposed to follow policy, and of course that is correct, but many times at the prisons themselves no one can determine exactly what policy is. It changes from day to day, from supervisor to supervisor, so everyone is always left wondering where they stand. The officers, the inmates, the family s.