Recruiting and Training of Correction Officers - Term Paper Example

Current literature and the experiences of leaders in the correctional field, specifically with regard to the corrections profession, show that a great deal of stress is being placed on the formulation and implementation of competency-oriented recruitment and training procedures, especially with respect to employment and employee growth and development. Definitely, these attempts appear deserving of attention and interest for their capacity to encourage and improve needed abilities to thrive in the field of corrections. Nevertheless, correctional officers cannot be uncommunicative about making out the individual attributes of persons they think are probable to succeed in the correctional profession, specifically as correctional officers. Introduction The justification for occupational or professional training is to pass on accrued experience, knowledge, and facts, the most sophisticated practices, as well as objective, theory, principle, or ethics of practice. Yet, the institution of correction is only starting to familiarize itself to the difficulties of recruiting and training capable correctional officers. There is an emerging understanding among radical superintendents that inadequately recruited, untrained staff is not merely incompetent but is disadvantageous as well. Untrained staff is rather doubtful to be the bearer of progressive principles and a positive ethos for correctional work. Corrections today are becoming increasingly intricate. Besides the problems created by lawbreakers day by day, correctional superintendents today should confront the issues of correctional personnel who usually feel a kind of prerogative and have a broad range of union supporters, lawyers, and laws available to them to help them resolve problematic issues. Almost all correction superintendents aspire to make the workplace a motivating, stable, secure, and safe environment where in personnel could face the job’s challenges with optimism and enthusiasm. Hiring Correctional Officers Nearly all correctional systems are developing quite rapidly that, usually, the main objective is recruiting fresh talents into the force. At the same time, all correctional supervisors are aware that a new officer who will not or cannot carry out his/her obligations is simply another preventable setback. The law grants employers much leeway in the recruitment or hiring process when performed properly. Recruiting may involve three methods that will detect possible problem personnel: ‘background checks, physical agility tests, and probationary employment periods.’ Correctional managers could oblige potential officers to agree to a provision involving complete disclosure of their entire personal backgrounds and verification of those backgrounds or histories. This normally will identify any major issues with illegal conduct and even adverse social activities. Employers could oblige potential personnel to undergo a physical agility test; this procedure will help identify those with serious pre-existing deficiencies that may be drawn upon to file for compensation or disability claims. The third method, the probationary employment period, is usually performed ineffectively. The law permits superintendents to monitor the performance and behavior of the personnel a lot more thoroughly throughout the probationary period, and to discard employment if behavior and performance is unsatisfactory. Even though most previous employers remain cautious about giving unfavorable references for incompetent personnel, drawing on these three recruitment methods will lessen the problems of the correctional human resources department. In order to fill important personnel positions in corrections, a large number of recruitment or hiring methods are applied by the reporting system. The key procedure stated is job fairs. Other techniques identified were salaries for valid rural sites; on-site recruitment; placement or internship prospects; public notices; presenting at local conventions or meetings; incentives for effective employee recommendations; giving bonuses; compensating overtime work and shift differentials; giving free meals or uniforms; providing transportation services; and planning for an open house for the people within the community. Louisiana transfers its correctional personnel to the position of sergeant after six months, with an accompanying increase in salaries. Maryland has entered an agreement with its retired officials to occupy special positions. In addition, certain initiatives to hire old timers were widespread. With regard to requirements for employment, a significant portion of the reporting systems of the United States do not incorporate pre-employment components in their recruitment guidelines. These systems comprise Vermont, Tennessee, South Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Florida. The other reporting systems include a broad array of pre-employment methods, like interviews, written tests, psychological exams, civil service exam, a standard physical fitness or medical test, comprehensive background check, previous employment records, correctional personnel presentation video, or fingerprinting. In addition, 36% of the U.S. reporting systems perform drug tests for candidates and 34% carry out thorough checking of criminal records. Some reporting systems also carry out detailed background checks, such as checking for a child violence or abuse history or background. Training and Retention of Correctional Officers Training is a requirement under existing law because of the court’s dependence on training to determine the ability of correctional officers to carry out major tasks or high-liability obligations, like medical care and use of force. Nevertheless, in addition, it should be perceived as a useful instrument for correctional superintendents who aim to lower the prevalent of problem employment setbacks in the agency. The law obliges personnel training to put into practice guidelines related to workplace violence, aggression, and sexual harassment. Also, the law is indifferent or relentless to officers who have been trained and do not carry out their obligations properly, permitting correctional superintendents to take necessary measures, such as firing or removal from office. The most neglected attribute of training is that it can be carried out anytime, anywhere. The correctional officer does not have to travel to another site and take a day off to attend the training. The law simply demands the dissemination of accurate information to personnel in an understandable format that explains clearly the significance of conforming to procedures or guidelines. This can be performed by an external overseer or instructor at the agency throughout a session. The duty of training employees for correctional tasks should be rooted in a general operational idea. The scope of the correctional duty, taking into account its most inclusive boundaries, is from: Short-contract services at the law enforcement level (as, for example, the work of the juvenile aid bureaus and the police women’s bureaus) through short-term care in detention custody and in short-sentence institutions, guidance service on a long- or short-time basis for probationers and parolees, long-term care and treatment in correctional institutions, and finally to protective custody over long periods for lifers and dangerous and abnormal offenders. Within these working sectors of correction, there are particular crucial guidelines and processes for the correctional officers to conform to. They involve case documentation and history taking; testing, segregation, and grouping; evaluation and orientation; case transfers to other agencies and prudent use of community resources and organizations; addressing emergency or urgent needs and the long-term necessities for surmounting limitations in occupational training, education, and health; guidance and counseling; building a valuable rapport rooted in respect and trust; instilling of new outlooks of and perspectives in life; preparation for confronting life circumstances in an satisfactory manner; respect for authority and the regulated setting as a benefit for treatment; exercise of judgment in references for disciplinary measure or for invalidation of parole and probation At this point there is a lack of a corrective treatment of the wrongdoer and lack of abuse of power. Rather, we have procedures which aid the wrongdoer in rehabilitating himself and face life circumstances with a new point of view. If at all possible, each correctional officer should be capable of giving favorable influence to the criminal. These methods are in part philosophy and in part strategy, but all of them characterized accrued appropriate and ethical practice which can be read in the works of the scholars and pioneers in the correctional arena and to a certain extent in the real state of affairs in the most radical or sophisticated correctional institutions and units. Nearly all of these procedures should be passed on by some kind of training course. Only a portion of them arise naturally to individuals who have a gift for carrying out the exact thing at the exact time and have an ability to build a useful, off-the-record connections with individuals who disobey the law. Now that the sought-after features or qualities of correction officers have been summed up and a number of insights have been presented for how to achieve them, correction agencies should strive to accomplish it. Obviously, they will try to retain them because they are the right persons for the job and they go well with the system the agency has established in relation to having the attributes preferred in correctional officers. Many will have the same opinion that in this constantly evolving job market, and particularly in the field of corrections, employee turnover is substantial. There are numerous explanations for this, and exit interviews are proposed in order for the bureaus to identify what the causes are. Nevertheless, the most excellent alternative is to retain the employees who have been found out as owning the desirable and appropriate attributes. Conclusions At this point in the evolution of the corrections work, the basic value of correctional officers’ function in the effective implementation of correctional plans or initiatives is known far and wide and often written about. Evidently, the fundamentals of correctional procedure, rehabilitation, security, and protection basically cannot happen without competent and reliable employees on the forefront, who are dealing directly with lawbreakers. However, it is hard to locate straightforward, meaningful information depicting the attributes of a quality correctional officer. The importance of a pre-service training and education is also an ongoing concern in terms of employee or career development. Nevertheless, in relation to discerning the individual qualities preferred in correctional officers, a thorough assessment and discussion of previous experience or background is vital to successful recruitment. References Riley, F.E. III & Wilder, B. (2002). “Hiring Correctional Staff with the Right Stuff” Corrections Today, 64(3), 88+ Rockwell, B. (2001). “Five Paths to a More Defensible Correctional Workplace” Corrections Today, 63(4), 130. Tappan, P.W. (1951). Contemporary Correction. New York: McGraw-Hill. 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