suggestions to decrease misconduct by correctional professionals.

  1. Responses to Corruption

LO 5: Present some suggestions to decrease misconduct by correctional professionals.

  • Correctional managers can and should generate a strong anti-corruption policy (obviously, managers should not be engaging in corrupt practices themselves). Such a policy would include
    • proactive measures such as mechanisms to investigate and detect wrongdoing,
    • reduced opportunities for corruption,
    • screening of employees using state-of-the-art psychological tools,
    • improved working conditions, and
    • providing good role models in the form of supervisors and administrators who follow the appropriate code of ethics.
  • The Commission on Safety and Abuse in American Prisons developed a comprehensive list of recommendations to reduce the “culture of violence,” including the following:
    • Improve staffing levels, hiring, and training
    • Provide independent oversight for complaints and investigations of misconduct
    • Create a national database of violent incidents and misconduct
    • Increase access to the courts by repealing or amending the Prison Litigation Reform Act
    • Increase the level of criminal prosecution of wrongdoers (perhaps using federal prosecutions)
    • Strengthen professional standards
  • Souryal discusses the “civility” of a correctional institution as being influenced by the level of education required for hire, the amount of in-service training officers receive, the policies regarding employees who act in unethical ways, and the presence of a professional association or union that can effectively monitor the agency’s practices.
  • Wright offers seven principles as a guide for how administrators and supervisors should treat employees:
    • Safety
    • Fair treatment
    • Due process
    • Freedom of expression
    • Privacy
    • Participation in decision making
    • Information
  • Burrell directs attention to probation and proposed that to prevent stress and burnout, probation (and parole) organizations should provide clear direction, manage proactively, establish priorities if there are high workloads, ensure stability and constancy, be consistent in expectations, manage with fairness, enforce accountability, delegate authority, provide proper resources, maintain communication, and allow participative decision making.
  • Barrier and colleagues discussed an ethics training program with correctional officers, in which part of the training involved having the officers identify important elements of an ethics code. Many of the elements had to do with the practices of management rather than officers:
    • Treating all staff fairly and impartially
    • Promoting based on true merit
    • Showing no prejudice
    • Leading by example
    • Developing a clear mission statement
    • Creating a positive code of ethics (a list of dos, rather than don’ts)
    • Creating a culture that promotes performance, not seniority
    • Soliciting staff input on new policies
    • Being respectful
    • Getting the word out that upper management cares about ethics
  • Administrators are responsible for what happens in their facility, and training, supervision, and careful attention to assignments can avoid many problems.
  • In community corrections, there seems to be the same management tendency to hide or ignore wrongdoing on the part of individual officers.
  • Another way to respond to misconduct and corruption in corrections is to shift the orientation away from punishment and retribution.
  1. A New Era? Procedural Justice/Restorative Justice
  2. The principles of procedural justice seem to show the most promise in reforming the prison culture.
  3. A major shift in the ideology of punishment may be spurred by the economic burden that the penal harm era has generated, but there is also a moral element in that many advocates consider that the pendulum has swung too far toward severe prison terms, especially toward drug offenders.
  4. The restorative justice movement is an approach that seeks to provide reparation rather retribution.
  5. The historical origins of and analogies to restorative justice can be found throughout recorded history.
  6. Peacemaking corrections offers an approach of care and of wholesight, or looking at what needs to be done with both the heart and the head.
  7. Both restorative justice and peacemaking corrections are consistent with the ethics of care and might be considered “feminine” models of justice because of the emphasis on needs rather than retribution.
  8. Programs under the rubric of restorative justice include sentencing circles, family group counseling, victim–offender mediation, community reparation boards, and victim education programs.
  9. Dzur and Wertheimer discuss how restorative justice can further forgiveness, but they ask the question “Is forgiveness a social good?” They argue against the idea that what is good for the individual victim is also good for everyone else.
  10. Restorative justice programs are looked upon with favor by some victims’ rights groups because of the idea of restoration and restitution for victims.
  11. However, the approach is oriented to meeting the needs of victims and offenders, and in some cases it may be that the offender is needier.
  12. Restorative justice programs may lead to a greater sense of mission for employees and, therefore, decrease burnout and misconduct. However, there are ethical issues with such programs.
  13. Restorative justice programs would not be appropriate for all offenders; there will always be a need for incarceration facilities for the violent, recidivistic offenders who need to be incapacitated.

What If Scenario

What if you were the new warden of a prison that had very serious ethical problems in the past? What approach would you take to prevent future misconduct?

Media Tool-(Individual Non-Graded Critical Thinking Exercise/Activity)(Not Submitted) What is this video about? What types of misconduct occurred? What kinds of reforms are being discussed? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zcT4NOdeqs
  1. Conclusion
  2. This chapter examines various forms of misconduct by correctional professionals.
  3. It was also noted that much of the misconduct might occur because of burnout and a loss of a sense of mission by professionals, as well as poor management. 
  4. Responses to ethical misconduct and corruption in corrections lag behind the efforts previously reported in law enforcement. 
  5. Suggestions include ethics training and improving management. 
  6. Restorative justice principles may help to improve the sense of mission and commitment to ethical behavior by correctional workers.

KEY TERMS

misfeasance: Illegitimate acts done for personal gain.

malfeasance: Acts that violate authority.

nonfeasance: Acts of omission.

procedural justice: The idea that the perception of legitimacy of legal authorities comes about when legal authorities practice fairness, participation, neutrality, respect, and illustrate trustworthiness.

peacemaking corrections: An approach to corrections that depends on care and wholesight, or looking at what needs to be done with both the heart and the head.