Topics in Corrections
Browse our list of answered hot topics, frequent questions, unusual topics, and
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Last reviewed: 8 days ago.
There is an inherent tension between the security mission of prisons and mental health considerations.
Views: 1704
Last reviewed: 8 days ago.
The collateral consequences of a criminal conviction—legal sanctions and restrictions imposed upon people because of their criminal record.
Views: 1533
Last reviewed: 1 month(s) ago.
Corrections Fatigue refers to the emotional challenges faced by correctional personnel and the potentially cumulative negative side effects of what staff experience through daily interactions with justice-involved individuals and immersion in uniquely challenging workplace conditions.
Views: 1376
Last reviewed: 1 month(s) ago.
You have observed, heard or investigated an incident. You know the who, what, where, and how of the event. Now what? It's time to write a clear concise report to describe and explain the event or series of events. If you are writing an investigative report, it is important to establish what you did as an investigator and when you did it.
Views: 1442
Last reviewed: 2 month(s) ago.
Electronic Monitoring (EM) monitors an offender’s whereabouts through an electronic monitoring device and typically operated through a Global Positioning System (GPS).
Views: 1153
Last reviewed: 2 month(s) ago.
Question:I want to know if I need to have a law library in my jail.
Views: 1312
Last reviewed: 2 month(s) ago.
Verbal de-escalation is an intervention for use with people who are at risk for aggression. Using calm language, along with other communication techniques, to diffuse, re-direct, or de-escalate a conflict situation.
Views: 1288
Last reviewed: 2 month(s) ago.
Medical treatment of the terminally ill under correctional management.
Views: 1164
Last reviewed: 2 month(s) ago.
Recognizing and understanding inmate deception, inmate manipulation, inmate set-ups.
Views: 2152
Last reviewed: 2 month(s) ago.
The successful transition of offenders back into the community -- without their re-offending -- is critical to community safety. A wide range of efforts are underway to prepare and support offenders for a successful return to their communities.
Views: 1835
Last reviewed: 3 month(s) ago.
The NIC Green Corrections Initiative seeks to increase awareness among corrections professionals about environmental issues related to the practice of corrections and focus attention on the need to make correctional facilities more energy and resource efficient.
Views: 1005
Last reviewed: 3 month(s) ago.
Browse a directory of links to state listings for policies and procedures.
Views: 2096
Last reviewed: 3 month(s) ago.
Some jail-specific policy examples and resources are provided below.
Views: 1683
Last reviewed: 3 month(s) ago.
Alabama Department of Corrections Administrative Regulations
Alaska Department of Corrections Policies and Procedures
Arizona Department of Corrections Policies
Arkansas Department of Correction Administrative Directives and Regulations
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitati....
Views: 1542
Last reviewed: 3 month(s) ago.
Use of NARCAN (naloxone) and naltrexone (extended-release) in opioid treatment programs.
Views: 1667
Last reviewed: 3 month(s) ago.
Organizational culture is defined as the values, assumptions, and beliefs the people in an organization hold that "drive the way they think and behave within the organization" (Cooke, 1989).
Views: 1401
Last reviewed: 3 month(s) ago.
According to Don Andrews and James Bonta (The Psychology of Criminal Conduct, 2010), the following are risk factors contributing to an individual's criminal conduct.
Major Factors: Antisocial/pro-criminal attitudes and values. Pro-criminal associates and isolation from others who are anti-crimi....
Views: 1636
Last reviewed: 3 month(s) ago.
Anger is an emotion that ranges from mild irritation to intense rage. Anger is a learned behavior that can be changed. Angry people need to be aware of the events, circumstances, and behaviors of others that trigger their anger.They need to understand the negative consequences that result from ang....
Views: 1435
Last reviewed: 3 month(s) ago.
"Good-time credit—time credited based on a prisoner’s good behavior while imprisoned that is applied toward the prisoner’s early release."
Views: 1493
Last reviewed: 3 month(s) ago.
A parole board is a panel of people who decide whether an offender should be released from prison on parole after serving at least a minimum portion of their sentence as prescribed by the sentencing judge.
Views: 1218
Last reviewed: 4 month(s) ago.
Research on justice-involved girls and young women.
Views: 1692
Last reviewed: 4 month(s) ago.
The administration and operation costs of criminal justice services in the United States.
Views: 987
Last reviewed: 4 month(s) ago.
Best practices and research on supervising and interacting with justice-involved women.
Views: 1482
Last reviewed: 4 month(s) ago.
Correctional health guidelines and recommendations for health professionals.
Views: 1063
Last reviewed: 4 month(s) ago.
A private facility or for-profit prison is a place in which individuals are physically confined or incarcerated by a third party that is contracted by a government agency.
Views: 1506
Last reviewed: 4 month(s) ago.
In a 2006 Special Report, the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) estimated that 705,600 mentally ill adults were incarcerated in state prisons, 78,800 in federal prisons and 479,900 in local jails.
Views: 2204
Last reviewed: 4 month(s) ago.
The National PREA Resource Center[Website]
Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), National Council on Crime Delinquency (NCCD), 2015 The National PREA Resource Center: PREA Posters [Website]
Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), National Council on Crime Delinquency (NCCD), 2015 NIC PREA/ Offende....
Views: 1180
Last reviewed: 4 month(s) ago.
Overview of trauma and its effects on justice-involved women.
Views: 1409
Last reviewed: 4 month(s) ago.
Last Updated January 2014 Question:
I want to use the Correctional Program Assessment Inventory instrument to see how well our program adheres to the principles of effective intervention.
Views: 999
Last reviewed: 4 month(s) ago.
Transgender is an overall term used to describe people whose gender identity and/or gender expression differs from their birth-assigned sex, whether or not they have changed their biological or hormonal characteristics.
Views: 1060
Last reviewed: 5 month(s) ago.
Human trafficking is a modern-day form of slavery involving the illegal trade of people for exploitation or commercial gain.
Views: 1275
Last reviewed: 6 month(s) ago.
"The American Probation and Parole Association (APPA) neither supports nor opposes the carrying of weapons by probation and parole officers; however, should be the decision be made by an agency to authorize officers to carry weapons, that decision must be made within the framework of actual need, officer safety demands, and must be consistent with the laws and policies which guide that agency."
Views: 2035
Last reviewed: 6 month(s) ago.
In corrections, Evidence-Based Practice is the breadth of research and knowledge around processes and tools which can improve correctional outcomes, such as reduced recidivism. Tools and best practices are provided with a focus on both decision making and implementation.
Views: 2222
Last reviewed: 6 month(s) ago.
Here are some relevant resources. In addition to these, always check the most current version of the American Correctional Association standards for jails, prisons, and other co....
Views: 1110
Last reviewed: 6 month(s) ago.
Mentoring [Website]
Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center, 2015
"Research has demonstrated that mentoring programs can positively affect social, behavioral, and academic outcomes for at-risk young people.
Views: 1057
Last reviewed: 6 month(s) ago.
A recent study of the consequences of job stress in correctional officers revealed that the life expectancy of a correctional officer is 59 years, compared to 75 years for the national average (Cheek, 1982).
Views: 2526
Last reviewed: 6 month(s) ago.
I have taken several of the NIC online courses.
Views: 1019
Last reviewed: 7 month(s) ago.
This "Knowledgebase" focuses on the use of volunteers in criminal justice settings. Volunteers can and do provide a variety of services within state and local correctional systems. These include but are not limited to the following: Providing special instruction in a particular area such as tuto....
Views: 1009
Last reviewed: 7 month(s) ago.
Personal Safety Inside Prison [Article]
ToersBijns, Carl, 2015
Document ID: 029790 The Corrections Profession: Maintaining Safety and Sanity, Part 1 [Webinar]
Spinaris, Caterina, Mike Denhof, and Greg Morton, Desert Waters Correctional Outreach (DWCO), National Institute of Corrections (NIC) ....
Views: 932
Last reviewed: 7 month(s) ago.
Correctional Hostage Rescue Units [Article] Correctional Hostage Rescue Operations--CHRT--Part 1 [Article] Correctional Hostage Rescue Operations--CHRT--Part 2 [Article]
Garcia, Joseph. Hostage Survival for Corrections [PowerPoint Slides]
Crisis Systems Management LLC. 5 Strategies to Prepare fo....
Views: 892
Last reviewed: 7 month(s) ago.
Cultural competence refers to an ability to interact effectively with people of different cultures and socio-economic backgrounds, particularly in the context of human resources, non-profit organizations, and government agencies whose employees work with persons from different cultural/ethnic backgrounds.
Views: 1097
Last reviewed: 7 month(s) ago.
There isn't any one single nationwide list of books or magazines banned from prisons.
Views: 1369
Last reviewed: 7 month(s) ago.
Recidivism is one of the most fundamental concepts in criminal justice. It refers to a person's relapse into criminal behavior, often after the person receives sanctions or undergoes intervention for a previous crime. Recidivism is measured by criminal acts that resulted in rearrest, reconviction or return to prison with or without a new sentence during a three-year period following the prisoner's release.
Views: 1243
Last reviewed: 7 month(s) ago.
RFPs= Request for Proposals
Views: 953
Last reviewed: 7 month(s) ago.
Computer and internet options for inmates.
Views: 1212
Last reviewed: 8 month(s) ago.
Correctional agencies may use social media to prevent and solve crimes, strengthen police-community relations, and enhance services.
Views: 979
Last reviewed: 8 month(s) ago.
Radicalization and conversion to violent extremism of inmates.
Views: 1056
Last reviewed: 8 month(s) ago.
Resources on justice-involved people who have substance use disorders as well as mental health disorders.
Views: 1042
Last reviewed: 8 month(s) ago.
Rewards and sanctions, or contingency management programs, are based on the theory of operant learning, which explains that human behavior is learned through the consequences that result from our actions.
Views: 1088
Last reviewed: 8 month(s) ago.
To be effective and efficient, there must be varying amounts of supervision provided to offenders.
Views: 1849
Last reviewed: 8 month(s) ago.
Illegal cell phone use in correctional facilities.
Views: 1018
Last reviewed: 8 month(s) ago.
Directory information for prisons/jails in the U.S. by state.
Views: 1316
Last reviewed: 11 month(s) ago.
We are reviewing our facility's inmate library procedures.
Views: 853
Last reviewed: 12 month(s) ago.
Recruitment, hiring, and retention of women and minorities in the criminal justice system.
Views: 935
Last reviewed: 12 month(s) ago.
Many corrections systems isolate certain prisoners from the general prison population; a practice known as special management confinement or segregation.
Views: 1437
Last reviewed: 2 year(s) ago.
A prolonged refusal to eat, carried out as a protest.
Views: 1016
Last reviewed: 2 year(s) ago.
The process for determining adequate staffing for a jail facility, and make it defensible, is to conduct a staffing analysis on a facility by facility basis.
Views: 1507
Last reviewed: 2 year(s) ago.
Domestic violence is a violent confrontation between family or household members involving physical harm, sexual assault, or fear of physical harm.
Views: 1068
Last reviewed: 2 year(s) ago.
Cost of health care services in correctional facilities.
Views: 1052
Last reviewed: 2 year(s) ago.
Question:
What is the definition of training? How do I know if my agency is delivering defensible training? Answer:
Training Defined: A formal exchange of job-related knowledge and/or skills from someone having it to someone needing it where something is acquired and applied resulting in somethi....
Views: 1215
Last reviewed: 2 year(s) ago.
Characteristics of prison inmates are collected through administrative data and inmate self-reports from interviews conducted in facilities.
Views: 1080
Last reviewed: 2 year(s) ago.
Question:
We get periodic complaintsfrom inmates about the temperature in their cells.
Views: 1285
Last reviewed: 2 year(s) ago.
The Directory of Programs Serving Children and Families of the Incarcerated is an update of the Directory of Programs Serving Families of Adult Offenders, dated October 2001.
Views: 1000
Last reviewed: 2 year(s) ago.
DACUM, which stands for Developing a Curriculum, was pioneered at the Ohio State University Center on Education and Training for Employment. It is a form of job analysis. When developing a curriculum for correctional employees, one task is to assure that the topic and content is clearly job-relevant. In fact, job-relevancy is a component of legally defensible training in corrections.
Views: 966
Last reviewed: 2 year(s) ago.
Adoption of alternative work arrangements may improve employee recruitment and retention and produces savings by reducing facility and overtime costs.
Views: 811
Last reviewed: 2 year(s) ago.
Examples of orientation handbooks for offenders.
Views: 948
Last reviewed: 2 year(s) ago.
It depends upon the results of a formal job task analysis of both positions.
Views: 938
Last reviewed: 2 year(s) ago.
Resources to assist you in preparing internal affairs investigators specific for PREA investigations.
Views: 1058
Last reviewed: 2 year(s) ago.
Succession planning is a process for identifying and developing internal people with the potential to fill key leadership positions in an organization. Succession planning increases the availability of experienced and capable employees that are prepared to assume these roles as they become available.
Views: 876
Last reviewed: 2 year(s) ago.
Grievance procedures provide inmates with a formal method for dealing with issues.
Views: 918
Last reviewed: 2 year(s) ago.
Resources for criminal justice data.
Views: 963
Last reviewed: 2 year(s) ago.
The Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (PREA) is the first United States federal law passed dealing with the sexual assault of prisoners. The bill was signed into law on September 4, 2003.
Views: 1293
Last reviewed: 2 year(s) ago.
Identifying and addressing employee turnover issue and improving retention.
Views: 998
Last reviewed: 2 year(s) ago.
The NIC's National Directory of Programs for Women with Criminal Justice Involvement is on our website.Programs related to women involved with the criminal justice system are displayed by state.
Views: 954
Last reviewed: 2 year(s) ago.
Resources for incarcerated parents and/or their families.
Views: 878
Last reviewed: 2 year(s) ago.
Coaching offers agencies a win-win method for developing their employees.
Views: 1523
Last reviewed: 2 year(s) ago.
Compassionate release polices allow for the early release or furlough of incarcerated people in connection to advance age and/or illness.
Views: 1268
Last reviewed: 2 year(s) ago.
Inmate Prison Safety: provides statistics in Federal prisons: staff murdered by inmates, inmate homicides, assault on staff without weapons, assault on staff with weapons.
Views: 986
Last reviewed: 2 year(s) ago.
The National Institute of Corrections offers several self-study e-courses on Working with Difficult People through the NIC Learning Center (for supervisors and managers) and Frontline Learning Center (for correctional line staff.) Course offerings include Dealing with Micromanagers, How to Work w....
Views: 1206
Last reviewed: 2 year(s) ago.
Question:
How can our agency best prepare for a PREA audit? Answer:
Until the first few occur, we really won't know the reality of the auditing process, the mechanics of the180 day corrective action period, and the role of auditors in helping agencies remedy deficiencies.
Views: 1152
Last reviewed: 2 year(s) ago.
Chapter 10: Prison Subculture and Prison Gang Influence
Hanser, Robert D., Introduction to Corrections, 2013 The Role of Masculine Norms and Informal Support on Mental Health in Incarcerated Men
Iwamoto, Derek Kenji, Derricl Gordon, Arazais Oliveros, Arturo Perez-Cabello, Tamika Brabham, Steve L....
Views: 972
Last reviewed: 2 year(s) ago.
Justice Research and Statistics Association (JRSA) [Website]
Justice Research and Statistics Association (JRSA), 2015
"JRSA conducts and publishes multistate, policy-relevant research on justice issues; provides training and technical assistance to build research and evaluation capacity and know....
Views: 813
Last reviewed: 2 year(s) ago.
The Shift Length Experiment: What We Know About 8-, 10-, and 12-hour Shifts in Policing
Police Foundation, 2013
Document ID: 026963 Sleep Disorders, Work Shifts and Officer Wellness
Pearsall, Beth, 2012
Document ID: 026239 Shifts, Extended Work Hours, and Fatigue: An Assessment of Health a....
Views: 957
Last reviewed: 2 year(s) ago.
Occupational Stressors in Corrections Organizations: Types, Effects and Solutions
Denhof, Michael, Caterina G.
Views: 863
Last reviewed: 2 year(s) ago.
Ceremonial Honor Guard
Oklahoma Department of Corrections, 2014 Honor Guard
Idaho Department of Correction, Standard Operating Procedure, 2014 Honor/Color Guard and Memory Guard
Minnesota Department of Corrections, 2014 Honor Guard and Dress Uniform
Alaska Department of Corrections, Policies....
Views: 767
Last reviewed: 2 year(s) ago.
Question:
I have a relative in custody somewhere.
Views: 1385
Last reviewed: 2 year(s) ago.
Life Goes On: The Historic Rise in Life Sentences in America
Nellis, Ashley, and Jean Chung. The Sentencing Project, 2013
“This analysis documents long-term trends in the use of life imprisonment as well as providing empirical details for the offenses that comprise the life-sentenced population”....
Views: 1104
Last reviewed: 2 year(s) ago.
National Center For State Courts (NCSC)
"Because courthouses must be accessible and in centralized locations, they are vulnerable to acts of random violence.
Views: 838
Last reviewed: 3 year(s) ago.
Question:
Our Agency needs a basic corrections/detention officer curriculum that will meet the ACA standards.
Views: 848
Last reviewed: 4 year(s) ago.
NIC provides some if it's popular video series and resources packages on Data DVDs.
Views: 888