Correctional Management - Essay Example

Harris Kamran Criminology Analytical Paper 15 April Correctional Management There are many issues and problems facing the management of the correctional institutes, or prisons, as they were traditionally called. Some of these problems arise due to deficiencies in the infrastructure, and others arise from the social factors such as an increase in the number of prisoners. Yet other problems are due to the lack of information and knowledge about the effective system of management of these institutes, and the ineffective utilization of resources. This paper purports to analyze one of the many problems, and to propose a solution or management plan in response to the selected issue, from the office and viewpoint of a correctional manager. The premise is that there is no provision of additional staff, funding, or other resources, and of course, the law cannot be changed or hampered with. The chosen problem is a lack of rehabilitation in the institutes, and the linked lack of trained staff for the rehabilitation process (The Florida DC). To ascertain the fact that the proposed management plan is within the responsibilities and job description of the correctional manager, and that it does not violate the law, a brief discussion of the responsibilities and authority of the correctional manager is provided. The correctional manager is responsible for the daily activities and management of the set up, and in medium and high risk prisons, there are some added responsibilities to his office (Institutional Management Structure). His duties span the human resource, finance, event management, emergency control, security, administration, and almost all other departments responsible for the daily working of the institute (Institutional Management Structure). He is in control of the planning of the daily events and activities, the visitations, the searches and monitoring of the inmates and the visitors, pay roll, attendance, any violations or other disciplinary issues and their related consequences, acute management of emergencies until the appropriate authorities get to the scene, the deployment of personnel and their rotations, the recruiting and training of personnel, and many other such duties (Institutional Management Structure). Given the span of the duties of a correctional manager, it is evident that there would be many problems facing his daily job arising from all the different departments that he is responsible for. The chosen issue of the lack of rehabilitation in the institutes is a very significant issue and has many reasons for its selection from all the other options. As a whole, there are approximately six million inmates in the correctional facilities across the United States, and every day, the managers have to supervise over two million inmates within the complexes and around four million inmates on parole (Cullen and Santana). The sheer number of inmates makes it extremely hard for the job to be smoothly executed. To make the matters worse, there are limited and often inadequate resources at the disposal of the managers, who themselves are underpaid along with their staff (The Florida DC). The limited resources mean that there are limited options available to the managers to deal with the day to day crises, and so they have to make do as best they can. To exactly pinpoint as to the underlying cause of the problems, and to the proposed solutions, a survey was conducted in Florida by the local Department of Corrections involving the general public, the local media, and the DC staff itself (The Florida DC). There were multiple options provided in the survey to be chosen according to how the different groups viewed the problem. Although the public and the media, being less informed and aware of the factual issues, did not pay much attention to the option of the lack of rehabilitation, the DC staff, being involved in the process and at a position of making more informed decision, chose the lack of rehabilitation as the single most opted problem in the survey, this being a total of around fourteen percent of the answers (The Florida DC). This was linked to the lack of good and trained staff for this job, at around eleven percent of the answers (The Florida DC). There are several other technical reasons behind employing plans to conduct rehabilitation in the institutes. It is perhaps one of the very few options that the managers have of doing something practical about the increasing number of inmates in the prisons; they can’t reduce the number of people opting for crime by sitting in the institutes, but they can most definitely try to reduce the possibility of the inmates reverting to the life of crime once they leave the prison or go out on parole (Cullen and Santana). If the ratio of this recidivism to the new criminals could be reduced, an overall positive impact on the society could be brought about by the correctional managers, and the problem of overcrowding of the prisons could be alleviated to some extent (The Florida DC). It is definitely better than just locking up the prisoners in their cells and not doing anything about the issue; at least it brings some positive change in the attitudes of the prisoners, according to a plethora of studies (Cullen and Santana). More than a hundred studies have been conducted to examine the effect of rehabilitation on the inmates, and to find out if this technique actually works (Cullen and Santana). The results, if not overwhelming encouraging, have shown that it does help, and that it is more beneficial to practice it than to shun it (Cullen and Santana). In the 1900s, the American psychology regarding the inmates was to go harsh on them; however, according to a study conducted in the 1970s, this attitude resulted in an increase in the number of crimes and inmates by seven times, whereas, rehabilitation improves the situation and reduces the chance of recidivism by ten percent (Cullen and Santana). The response of the general public is also supportive (Cullen and Santana). It is true that the overall reaction is to punish the criminals, but the public does support the rehabilitation of those who have committed lesser crimes (Cullen and Santana). The awareness and information about rehabilitation is spreading among the public, and more importantly, among the DC staff, so that they are getting more in favor of this option (Cullen and Santana). Besides, with the constrained economic condition and the limited budget and other resources, it has become increasingly important to use a system that is evidently more effective and efficient than the current system in practice (Cullen and Santana). It is not for no reason that the prisons have now been termed as “correctional facilities” (Cullen and Santana). Therefore, as a manager, the most prudent step would be to utilize the existing resources, both financial and human, in order to establish a set up that would produce the maximum results and would practically bring a significant improvement in the system. For this reason, the financial cut, or at least a part of it, that is employed on the provision of activities such as construction, gym, and sports, could initially be used for the training of staff in the area of rehabilitation. This training is crucial to the working of the plan, and would solve the significant problem of the lack of good and trained staff in the institutes (The Florida DC). The training would have to be an ongoing process, however, after the initial process, the finances could be redirected toward the previous activities. It should be noted that training of the personnel falls under the expected duties of the correctional manager as human resource management, as discussed earlier in the paper (Institutional Management Structure). Once the training is over, the time the inmates spend out in the grounds or in their cells could be reduced and substituted for group discussions and exercises aimed at rehabilitation of the inmates. This would also provide a chance for the staff to observe them in order to identify those who have the inclination or predisposition toward recidivism (Cullen and Santana). This is the first of the six aspects of effective rehabilitation program (Cullen and Santana). The next aspect is to conduct workshops with the identified group to exterminate the anti-social tendencies and to inculcate prosocial thinking patterns through cognitive exercises (Cullen and Santana). After the basic counseling and therapy comes the treatment of those inmates who have a high risk for offenses (Cullen and Santana). The manager should be well aware of the level of comprehension of the inmates so that an effective communication system should be established (Cullen and Santana). This program should not be limited to the institute; the parole officers and monitoring team should be trained to provide assistance and guidance to the inmates once they leave the prison (Cullen and Santana). The requirement of a trained staff would already have been fulfilled in the beginning for this set up (Cullen and Santana). This model could prove to be very beneficial for the problems of the correctional institutes. Works Cited Cullen, Francis T. and Gendreau, Paul. “Assessing Correctional Rehabilitation: Policy, Practice, and Prospects.” Policies, Processes, and Decisions of the Criminal Justice System n.d.: 109-175. Print. Cullen, Francis T. and Santana, Shannon A. “Rehabilitation.” Law. Net Industries, 2011. Web. 15 Apr. 2012. “Institutional Management Structure.” Guidelines. Correctional Service Canada, 29 Jun. 2011. Web. 15 Apr. 2012. Omar, Zulkifli Bin. “Current Issues in Correctional Treatment and Effective Countermeasures.” 115th International Training Course Participants’ Papers n.d.: 333-351. Print. “The Florida Department of Corrections: What are our most pressing issues and why?” Corrections in Florida. Florida Department of Corrections, 1998. Web. 15 Apr. 2012. Read More