Iqaluit (Aug 04/03) - The inside of a prison is not a place many people will ever see, except on television or in the movies.

Corrections officer Elsie Ramey will never lie about her age. "I use it to my advantage, believe me." - Kathleen Lippa/NNSL photo

But for corrections officer Elsie Ramey, 52, being among tough guys who are behind bars is a way of life.

"I'm not better than they are," said Ramey sitting in her Iqaluit home. "I want them to be judged on their person," she said of the inmates at the Baffin Correctional Centre where she works, "and not their crime. I want to see them as people."

Ramey is grounded for a lot of reasons. First of all, she is 52-years-old, the mother of a 32 year old son -- older, she points out, than many of the inmates she deals with four days a week, 12 hours a day.

Originally from Nova Scotia, Ramey finds calm whenever she looks out on Frobisher Bay.

"I love the ocean," she said.

"Whenever I get the chance I go to the beaches here, and relax."

She nourishes her spirit with aboriginal healing.

And on a day-to-day basis she knows the boundaries within her workplace well.

She is not a therapist, she says.

She is a corrections officer, there to ensure the inmates are secure within the confines of the centre.

"You talk with them," she says. "I've been there for a year now, so sometimes they'll sit and talk with you."

To work in a corrections center a person must be "secure" with who they are she says.

Being a woman isn't much of an issue for her.

"I don't know. It's a different set of rules. But once you're there, and you earn their trust, we're all the same. It's all about being a person."

You have to know how you're going to react when inmates act up. That's why being mature helps.

"I tell them, 'I'm too old for that'," she says. "I use my age to my advantage, believe me."

Ramey says it also helps to know some criminology. "You have to know what crime is all about." You also need to be open-minded and understanding.

"These guys, they'll do whatever they can to get what they want. They ask questions, they make demands. And until you get used to it, and learn to say no, it's a game."

It's been a big learning curve for Ramey. And she admits "I went in with fear. I didn't know what I was getting into."

But she says she loves her job.

"You watch over them. Make sure there aren't any problems. You have to know the mood they're in. Most of the time you can change it."