Assignment 3: Concerns for Corrections Staff and Inmates

Question 1

Correctional facilities are usually made of a program, administrative as well as custodial staffs where each group performs their own customized tasks and obligation which are all of the great significance (Clear, Cole, Reisig & Petrosino, 2013). An administrative staff refers to any individual who has the obligation of managing or controlling running operations in an institution and its related initiatives. Such staffs are involved in the monitoring of daily activities the performance of an institution and ensure that all the operations are in compliance with the set standards and regulations. In the correctional facilities, they are involved in overseeing the admission and dismissal of inmates by assessing whether all the necessary requirements have been accomplished. In addition they staffs are also involved in monitoring budgets and human operations (Clear, Cole, Reisig & Petrosino, 2013).

On the other hand, a custodial employee holds direct connections with the prisoner’s management (Clear, Cole, Reisig & Petrosino, 2013). These workers are involved in overseeing visits, creating reports on the performance of inmates, offering training, conducting security examination and offering companion to the employees. In addition, these staffs are also involved in offering advice to the inmates in regard to all the available plans. Since they are directly connected with the prisoners they are thus necessitated to maintain good relationships to influence transformation. Lastly, a program employee is the one that reviews the files for all the inmates and directs them to the counseling initiatives based on their needs and the classification is based on the mental stability of each (Clear, Cole, Reisig & Petrosino, 2013). They differ from the administration as they focus is based on the engagement of the inmates on the provided programs that are meant to encourage and motivate them to change positively.

Question 2

The four different powers that are available to the correctional officers include respect, coercive, reward and expert power (Stojkovic, Kalinich & Klofas, 2014). To begin with, respect is the general foundation of their power. This implies that all the prisoners are expected to adhere to the directives of the officers and show admiration. Officers that tend to exercise more fairness are highly respected by the inmates as they do not have to apply any force or intimidation to win their will. Coercive power, on the other hand, is acquired based on the perception that is universally held by inmates that the officers can place punishments on them. Coercion is normally utilized in acquiring compliance which is a common occurrence in the correctional facilities (Stojkovic, Kalinich & Klofas, 2014). Some examples include the utilization of oral cautions, threats, and discernment and physical penalties.

Correctional officers normally own expert authority in instances that the prisoners view them as an individual with special knowledge and competence (Stojkovic, Kalinich & Klofas, 2014). This authority is mainly noticeable in environments where treatment is being offered or for those that play part in managing different programs. This authority might, therefore, necessitate the officers to obtain customized abilities in regard to treatment. Reward power is earned when the prisoners believe that officers can offer compensations. Despite the fact that formal benefits can be provided as rewards informal ones also exist. For instance, an inmate can be rewarded for ensuring that others behaviors in accordance with what is required thus, saving the officers the trouble of accountability (Stojkovic, Kalinich & Klofas, 2014).

Question 3

The most important concern of correctional staffs is funding (Fagan, & Ax 2013). This is because without funds the facilities cannot run since most of the operations will be forced to stop and thus the goal of changing the inmates might never be achieved. Mental health issues are the seconding one since with health issues the cost of operation is increasing and more programs are needed to treat the affected persons (Fagan, & Ax 2013). In addition, such conditions affect training and correctional activities. Radical prisoners are next which is followed by diverse generations. The generations are the least important as they hold less effect as compared to the radical prisoners who might impact change negatively.

Question 4

Correctional officers are usually challenged by compassion fatigue based on the notion that the inmates did something unacceptable that deserves punishment (Fagan, & Ax 2013). This fatigue can best be described as the lowered capability of correctional employees to react to the unintended situations to the prisoners. In that, they are not interested in offering care on being empathetic the destructive experiences that the inmates faces (Fagan, & Ax 2013). This is however dangerous because the officers begin to withdrawal themselves as the caregivers and focus on punishment. This can lead to them isolating themselves from the social lives and beginning to judge individuals based on their mistakes rather than individuality. In the additional role, a conflict might also arise in such cases in that their intentions are not in alignment with what they are required to fulfill. They begin to forget their roles and focus on other undesirable acts. In the long run, this trend can lead to severe health issues like suicidal, depression or even emotional instability. In other words such behaviors with destroy their association with inmates and fail to encourage them to change (Fagan, & Ax 2013).

 

References

Clear, T. R., Cole, G. F., Reisig, M. D., & Petrosino, C. (2013). American Corrections in Brief. Cengage Learning.

Fagan, T. J., & Ax, R. K. (2013). Correctional Mental Health Handbook. SAGE.

Stojkovic, S., Kalinich, D., & Klofas, J. (2014). Criminal Justice Organizations: Administration and Management. Cengage Learning