Issues Affecting Correctional Administrators

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Correctional Administration: Issues affecting Correctional Administrators
INTRODUCTION
Correctional administration entails the actions and functions that managers and administrators must do to manage and direct correctional facilities and programs for housing and rehabilitating offenders in the public or private sector. Correctional administration has long been influenced by theories and practice, as well as the public’s views, attitudes, and beliefs toward corrections. Four goals of corrections are commonly promoted: retribution, deterrence, incapacitation, and rehabilitation. Each of these goals has received varied levels of public and professional support over time. Presently, correctional administrators are studying the dynamics and trends …show more content…

Administrators must constantly look to the future and plan for how they should respond to both known and unknown forces. Strategic planning is utilized to guide administrators in the creation of agency practices and procedures in response to future challenges. According to Seiter (2017), “Strategic planning creates a ‘road map’ for how an agency gets to where it wants to go.” (p. 68). It is important how an agency develops its plans for the future, using strategic planning to involve staff, identify future challenges, and create and implement programs and strategies to move beyond these challenges. Additionally, a concept referred to as strategic management is a new way to implement an organization’s strategic plan. According to Crosby (1991), it is possible to develop a strategic plan without giving much thought to the actual management of that plan. However, Crosby (1991) conveyed that it is probably impossible to manage an organization strategically without having developed a strategic plan. Engaging staff in these processes and phases is very important to the success of the plan. It is well documented that when staff are informed by clearly communicating the organization’s goals, they develop a sense of direction and focus. Staff become inspired when leaders explain why the organization’s …show more content…

Changes in sentencing law, including three strikes laws in some states, and policy are mostly to blame. This has resulted in severe prison overcrowding and economic strains on states to accommodate a rapidly expanding correctional system, regardless of increasing evidence that large-scale incarceration is not an efficient way of achieving public safety. It is evident that we are now seeing a growing recognition that our approach to dealing with convicted criminals is too costly. According to Mackenzie (2001), if we are to move ahead without repeating past mistakes, we must begin to use empirical knowledge to guide decision-making. Mackenzie (2001) further recommends that administrators should implement programs that have been shown to work, because there is every reason to believe that evidence-based knowledge will help correctional administrators address these problems in the future. Today, correctional administrators have even more refined knowledge of what works, thanks to evidence-based research. There is scientific evidence that prison and parole programs can reduce recidivism. One of the surest ways we know to keep crime down is to prevent those who have committed crimes in the past from doing so again. Rehabilitation programs are not for every prisoner, and we should not waste money on those who

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