Welcome to Corrections 208-Leadership in Corrections
Please print this page and complete the required sections. There are few books in this area. The recommended texts can often be found at Amazon.com as used books. Effective Prison Leadership, Authors: Kevin N. Wright, Publishers, William Neil Publishing and The Effective Corrections Manager, Authors: Richard L. Phillips, Charles R. McConnell, An Aspen Publication. In addition any recent introduction to Corrections text would be useful, such as:
Corrections
In The United States: A Contemporary Perspective
Champion, Dean J. Hardcover/Cloth cover ISBN: 0132939371
Courts,
Corrections, And The Constitution: The Impact Of Judicial Intervention On
Prisons And Jails
Editor Dilulio, John J., Jr. Paperback ISBN: 0195079051
| There are no CD's/Audios Required! Please complete the discussion question for each unit. When you have completed your assignments, please submit your work to your instructor. The preferred method of submission is email. However, if you are mailing your assignment: |
Mail to:
Rio Hondo College
Department of Public Safety
3600 Workman Mill Road
Whittier, CA 90608
Course Description: This course is designed to assist students in understanding effective leadership skills and their application in the correctional setting. This course will provide the student with the working knowledge of leadership, efficient administration, and today’s workforce in the corrections setting.
Course Assignments
Unit 1- Posting of class assignments via email
Class assignments are to be posted via email by Saturday of each week. The instructor, will make remarks, if any, then return assignment to the student.
Complete the survey instrument at "Your Leadership Style" http://www.leadersdirect.com/quizzes.html
Describe yourself as a leader
Your description must be at least 200 words.
Send this description to the course instructor in an email.
Unit 2 - Leaders and Leadership. Define and Describe:
In submitting your response, you must reference where you developed your
answer. Unit Overview:
Many times throughout our lives we come across people who
we consider to be good leaders. Leaders are not necessarily people who are in
a supervisory or management classification. However, people in those
classifications are expected to be leaders as well as managers. When we look at leaders, there are some common
traits that we can easily identify with. Usually the kind of traits that we
would like to emulate. The same holds true for management. In this first
chapter, we examine the traits of successful prison executives. Leadership style is the way we come across to others when we attempt to
influence. A practical way to describe leadership styles is the extent to
which directive and supportive behaviors are used. Directive behavior is the
degree to which a leader explains, in specific terms, what to do, when and
where to do it, how to do it (with as much detail as needed), and who is
responsible. In directive behavior communication is primarily one-way and
focuses on the other person's duties and responsibilities. Supportive behavior
is the extent to which the leader sets positive expectations, encourages,
listens to, praises, and helps facilitate the thinking of others. In
supportive behavior the flow of communication is primarily two-way. Combining
varying degrees of directive and supportive behavior produces four distinct
leadership styles. Style 1 is characterized by explaining, demonstrating, and giving
feedback on performance. It might sound like this, "Watch me, I'll
explain this step by step. After that I'll give you a chance to try your
hand at it. Don't worry about learning everything at once because I'll be
here to provide any assistance you may need." Support consists of
setting positive expectations and providing enough two-way communication to
ensure that directions are clear and feedback is understood. Properly used,
Style 1 is called "Directing". Style 2 is characterized by coaching and instruction. It looks and
sounds very much like Style 1 in terms of structure. The distinction is in
the higher amount of supportive behavior provided by the leader to develop
in-depth understanding and skill through practice and positive feedback. In
Style 2 the leader engages in more listening and discussion. It might sound
like this, "I really appreciate your enthusiasm for this task. Let me
explain why we do it this way and then I'll answer any questions you have.
We'll make sure you have what you need to do an excellent job."
Properly done Style 2 is called "Guiding or Coaching". Style 3 is characterized by encouragement and reinforcement. When
using this style the leader does not "tell" or "direct"
the other person. Instead, the leader shares responsibility for
decision-making. It might sound like this, "Susan, we can all benefit
from some of the approaches you have used in the past. How do you think we
should proceed on this?" Properly used, Style 3 is called
"Supporting" or "Participating" Style 4 is characterized by a more "hands-off" approach
that gives the other person room to make and implement decisions. Of all the
styles, Style 4 is the least structured. It might sound like this:
"Jim, you know the results we are looking for. This project is right up
your alley. Take responsibility, you know the parameters and the
constraints. Call me if you need me." Supportive behavior is used to
reinforce and reward the person for achieving intended results. Properly
done Style 4 is called "Delegating". Each of these four leadership styles naturally fits one of the four
readiness levels. Ask yourself the following, "What specific task and
result do I want this individual to accomplish? Given what I know, what does
this person need from me to succeed? Direction? Support? How much of
each?" Finally, "How can I provide these things in a way that is
effective with this person?" Without taking the time to ask these
questions first, leadership becomes a "hit-or-miss" proposition
rather than a conscious influence strategy.
Unit 3 - Leadership
and Integrity.
What are the key components of leadership and character that assures quality in the administration of prisons?
What are the characteristics that ensure "integrity"?
In submitting your response, you must reference where you developed your answer.
Unit Overview: Many leaders of today struggle with the concept of “integrity”. Leaders from the spectrum of Political, Social, Religious, Community, and others all deal with the same issue, integrity. How do leaders develop trust? How do they lose it? Once lost, can they re-establish the trust? What does society accept as minor violations of trust? What is a major violation of trust?
Is “lying” okay? Some people say absolutely not. But if lying is not okay: Do we lie to our children about such things as Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy? So is that kind of lying is okay? What is a “white lie”? Is it a “white lie” to the person being deceived? What is deception? Is it deception by withholding information from another?
Powerful questions that have confrontational answers.
As a leader of an organization, you will be measured against these issues. You must be ready to face the challenges and leave with your integrity in tact.
Ethics
Ethics refers to standards of conduct, standards that indicate how one should behave based on moral duties and virtues, which themselves are derived from principles of right and wrong. In order to apply this definition to practical decision making it is necessary to specify the nature of the moral obligations considered intrinsic to ethical behavior.
For a discussion of What Is Ethics Anyway?, go to http://www.josephsoninstitute.org/MED/medwhatis.htm
Ethical Decision Making
Making consistently ethical decisions is difficult. Most decisions have to be made in the context of economic, professional and social pressures which can sometimes challenge our ethical goals and conceal or confuse the moral issues.In addition, making ethical choices is complex because in many situations there are a multitude of competing interests and values. Other times, crucial facts are unknown or ambiguous. Since many actions are likely to benefit some people at the expense of others, the decision maker must prioritize competing moral claims and must be proficient at predicting the likely consequences of various choices. An ethical person often chooses to do more than the law requires and less than the law allows. The ethical person is concerned with what is right to do, not with what she has a right to do.
Unit 4 - Organizational Culture. Answer the following:
In describing the fundamental values of the organizational cultures, what are the common qualities identified?
What are the six are six standards of quality?
What are the "4 C's" of quality prison management?
In submitting your response, you must reference where you developed your answer.
Unit Overview: Organizations run best with quality management. There can be no mistake about that. Although the front line employee does the bulk of the work, it is up to the management team to set the tone of the work site. What behaviors will management accept? What behaviors will not be tolerated? How is the “culture” determined? How will the followers of the organization interpret the acts of leaders?
Total Quality Management (TQM) is a structured system for satisfying internal and external customers and suppliers by integrating the business environment, continuous improvement, and breakthroughs with development, improvement, and maintenance cycles while changing organizational culture.
One of the keys to implementing TQM can be found in this definition. It is the idea that TQM is a structured system. In describing TQM as a structured system, it is a strategy derived from internal and external customer and supplier wants and needs that have been determined through Daily Management. Pinpointing internal and external requirements allows the leader to continuously improve, develop, and maintain quality, cost, delivery, and morale. TQM is a system that integrates all of this activity and information.
For many years culture has been claimed as an important
component of organizational success in general and TQM and quality improvement
in particular. One study examined management culture and quality performance in
a sample of New Zealand manufacturing organizations. The culture was measured
using the Organizational Culture
Inventory (http://www.hscar.com/oci.htm), and quality performance was measured using questions from Leading
the Way: A Study of Best Manufacturing Practices in Australia and New Zealand.
Different management cultures were found to have correlations with quality
indicators such as: warranty claims, percent defectives, ratio of quality
inspectors to direct production workers, and delivery in full on time. No
significant correlations were found between the organizational cultures and cost
of quality, or with supplier quality. They suggest that through understanding
these relationships between culture and quality, managers may be able to develop
more effective and competitive organizations.
Unit 5 - Developing Personnel. Answer the following:
Which reasons do dissatisfied staff most for leaving the job?
What four steps does "Kanter" outline for building a feeling of ownership?
What steps should be taken to ensure "sharing the power"?
In submitting your response, you must reference where you developed your answer.
Unit Overview: Oftentimes people fail to make a commitment to their jobs, as they do not feel as though they have anything at stake with the organization. Lets face facts. In the public sector, people will never “own” the agency they are working in. They will work for a period of years then retire. Most people will not rise to the top of the organization. The salaries and benefits are set by negotiation with bargaining units. Whether they do a good or bad job, the pay will still be the same.
We must realize that people do not go to work for the pay and benefits alone. In fact, pay and benefits are not even near the top of the list. People actually want to be given the opportunity of “ownership” within an organization. Physical ownership is not the necessity. Ownership in the way the organization runs is much more important. Ownership in setting new ideas or new policies into place.
A good leader develops the followers and produces the feeling of ownership.
Job Stickiness (http://www.morebusiness.com/running_your_business/management/d952374028.brc)
Pay and benefits, assuming they're competitive, are not the prime reasons employees stay at their jobs. Other factors, which generally fall under the category of job satisfaction, create stickiness. And ironically, satisfied jobholders might not even notice them. Examine whether these factors are present in your current job and - very important - whether they are present at any job you may be considering.
A sense of purpose. This may sound ridiculously basic, but a jobholder should know what his or her job is and what it's supposed to accomplish. The person doing the job also should know to whom he or she is responsible. The manager, supervisor or boss should be empowered to say "yes, do this" or "no, don't do that." Someone I know at a large publishing company plagued by high turnover started a job and then learned that the person who hired her was fired. For several weeks, she didn't know who her boss was or who was supposed to approve her decisions.
Core values that are understood and rewarded. Every organization has its own values. They may be wacky or unwritten (for example: as long as you work like a dog, your hours are flexible; if you kiss up to your egomaniacal boss you will be OK.) But unless everyone knows what these values are and believes they are followed with consistency, satisfaction drops. Suppose our flexible workaholic company suddenly penalized an employee for leaving early one day. That action would dissolve the stickiness that had been established over time among everyone.
Civil behavior. Another seeming given. But some workplaces are populated by those we may politely label "difficult." If they're not screaming or slamming doors or berating colleagues or subordinates, they're ignoring them, belittling them or regaling them with stories of their own brilliance. These clunkers may be hard to spot when you're being considered for a job, but they can make any position and company decidedly sticky. If prospective bosses or colleagues are described as "very demanding" or "brilliant, but temperamental," watch out.
Power Sharing and Autonomy Strategies (http://www.colorado.edu/conflict/peace/treatment/powrshar.htm)
Power sharing is a strategy for resolving disputes over who should have the most powerful position in the social hierarchy. Instead of fighting over who should have power over whom, power sharing relies upon the joint exercise of power. If conflicts can be reframed to focus on how such power sharing might take place, they can become much more constructive.
Power sharing can take a variety of forms. One approach is to grant minority groups autonomy over some--or all--aspects of their own affairs. This autonomy can be limited to cultural issues: religion and education for example, or it can be extended to cover the social, economic, and political spheres as well. At the extreme, it can take the form of granting complete independence and allowing a minority group to form its own sovereign nation state.
Another approach to power sharing is more integrative. Governance is handled by leaders from each group who work jointly and cooperatively to make decisions and resolve conflicts. This approach relies on ethnically neutral decision making and public policies. Typically the electoral system will be structured to encourage multi-ethnic coalitions within the political system.
Implementing either approach is usually difficult, as groups holding power are reluctant to relinquish that power, and groups without it tend to want massive change to occur more quickly than the dominant group is likely to accept. For this reason, demands for power-sharing and autonomy often ferment conflict more than they resolve it. However, if minority groups can frame their demands in a way that emphasizes joint benefit, and focus on developing a mutually acceptable way of achieving self-determination for all groups, they are likely to meet with more success than they are if they take a more combative or competitive approach.
Unit 6 - Teams and Teamwork. Answer the following:
What are the characteristics to cohesion?
What dominant values did "Peters and Waterman" identify for top performing organizations?
What activities are used to encourage collaboration and teamwork?
What are the benefits of sharing information?
What ingredients evolve from trust?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of a diverse workforce?
In submitting your response, you must reference where you developed your answer.
Unit Overview: Cohesion
In Maxwell's view, social cohesion is derived from investments in human and social capital, which include not only social programs, but also traditions of civic engagement, such as voting, newspaper readership and membership in community associations. Social capital is the foundation for economic success because it puts in place the trust and reciprocity required to generate wealth. When social capital and, hence, social cohesion is eroded and when large segments of the population are marginalized by unemployment and poverty, the impacts are not only social. In a knowledge-based economy, the very basis of longer-term competitiveness -- the economy's human capital -- is also compromised. Maxwell also draws a clear distinction between short-term cost cutting and long-run competitiveness. Marginalized workers for example, are unable to invest adequately in education for their families, thus perpetuating lower productivity over time. Similarly, quality of life and absence of social strife are important determinants of business investment which is a key element in future productivity.
Diversity
In recent times, society has had many struggles with the diversity of the workforce. Some people feel the workforce is primarily diverse because of the goals of affirmative action. Oftentimes people tend to believe that affirmative action does not guarantee the best person getting the job, but simple a means of quotas.
Yet others feel the diversity in the workforce is a necessity. How can an inmate communicate with someone when they feel they have no connection? There are advantages and disadvantages to having a diverse workforce. If you have a multi-sexual workforce, you will have harassment complaints. If you have a multi-cultural workforce you will have discrimination complaints. If you have a singular sex workforce, you will not achieve maximum productivity. The same holds true for a singular cultural workforce.
A good leader and manager is aware of the benefits and liabilities of the diverse workforce.
Many organizations pursuing a formal quality management effort employ a
number of specific management techniques and practices that are helpful in
making the transformation to quality. These practices include: training in
quality management techniques; formation of employee teams to address problems
in a collaborative and systematic manner; actions to improve communication and
involve workers in decisions; use of rewards and recognition aligned to the
organization's quality objectives; and systematic measurement of customers'
needs, processes and final outputs.
But successful application of quality management principles has more to do
with the way an organization operates on a day-to-day basis than with any set
of management techniques. This way of operating emphasizes a commitment to
excellence, a focus on the customer, continuous improvement, and especially
reliance on the talents of everyone to realize the organization's full
potential.
Trust and Leadership (http://www.paragonmanagement.com/leadership.htm)
Organizations must continually re-create themselves or face extinction. The challenges faced by today's organizations demand the emergence of leadership capable of eliciting the best an organization has to offer. Traditional top down notions of leadership are giving way to concepts of stewardship and partnership. Leaders are no longer defined by their title or role, but by their ability to add value, engender trust, and improve morale. PMC helps organizations meet this challenge by assisting individuals, whether they are in management or not, with personal trust and leadership development that makes the difference.
Unit 7 - Change. Answer the following:
What major changes occurred during the 60's and 70's and how did it impact the prison systems?
What key steps can prison executives take toward improving operations?
What methods are recommended to encourage an "entrepreneurial spirit" in the organization?
In submitting your response, you must reference where you developed your answer.
Over the last thirty years there have been many changes effecting the prison systems. These changes have occurred because of the changes in societies attitude toward the criminals. These attitudes have affected the way the correctional employees do their job. Years ago a correctional employee would respond to an emergency without regard for personal safety. Not today.
Today a correctional employee might respond to an alarm depending on who needs help. For example: A correctional employee might quickly respond to help another employee who is being battered by an inmate. This same correctional employee will respond slower is the same inmate is battering another inmate. Especially an inmate who the correctional employee has a disagreement over values. The inmate might be a child abuser and the employee has a deep-rooted value against child molesters. The inmate may be infected with the HIV virus and the employee has a fear of contracting HIV.
Read RETRO - Super Cool Stuff from the 50s, 60s, 70s, & 80s (http://members.aol.com/TchrfromOz/retro.html)
This site covers all that is History...meaning, all that relates to Humanity. For info on Ancient History, World History, War, U.S. History & Government, the Fine Arts (art, music, film, TV), Education, etc.
Read Entrepreneurial spirit belongs on the inside, too by Howard Eisner (http://washington.bcentral.com/washington/stories/2000/04/03/focus6.html)
Another very serious part of being an entrepreneur is what the larger companies are trying to do to encourage their people to be more active in this respect. Peters and Waterman, in their "In Search of Excellence" blockbuster, got a lot of companies re-focused on this area by citing "autonomy and entrepreneurship" as one of their eight attributes of excellence. My own view of what it takes to be an "entrepreneur" consists in part of the following, drawn from a somewhat longer list.
1. Believes in him/herself. If you watch the internal entrepreneur, you'll invariably find no lack of self confidence. That perspective is necessary in order to jump over all of the hurdles that will be placed in front of you.
2. Positive, high energy. No true entrepreneur can be accused of walking around the office with a long face in a state of semi-depression (although there might be good reason to do so).
3. Success-oriented. Many entrepreneurs have rose-colored glasses and see only the half-full situation. They expect success and therefore are more likely to achieve it.
4. Won't accept no for an answer. A "no" might be a show-stopper for mere mortals, but it's only the first obstacle to figure out how to walk around for the entrepreneur.
5. Knows how to "play the politics." If this skill isn't present, especially in a large company, failure is just another "nay-sayer" down the road.
Go to Characteristics of Leaders of Change (http://www.sedl.org/change/leadership/character.html)
Leadership to promote and implement educational change has not been uniform. Knowledge about the qualities of the individuals who have successfully implemented such strategies has been minimal. If the educational community has knowledge of successful strategies and programs, why is there limited implementation? Did the leader make the difference? What are the characteristics these people possess that enabled them to change their districts and schools?
Unit 8 - Power and its use. Answer the following:
What are the fundamental rights of prisoners?
What are the rudimentary elements necessary to provide a safe prison?
How can security in prisons be maintained?
What actions facilitate violence in prisons?
In submitting your response, you must reference where you developed your answer.
Unit Overview: Many people today feel that punishment is part of the responsibility of the jail keepers. Just doing time is not enough. Due to this feeling, people take on an additional responsibility, that of applying the punishment. This leads to violations of laws. Sometimes these violations of laws go unreported. Mostly because they are justified in the minds of others.
Example: An inmate is incarcerated for being a child molester. He gets into a fight with another inmate. He gives little resistance to staff as they apply the mechanical restraints on his wrist. He asks that the restraints be loosened, as they are too tight. Staff ignores his request. As a result of being ignored, he begins to use abusive language towards the staff. Staff then confronts the abusive language. The inmate gets agitated and spits towards a staff member. The member gets frustrated and grabs the inmate by the throat, warning the inmate of bodily harm if the inmate continues his aggression. The inmate complies.
There are rules for dealing with situation of this nature. There is an inmate disciplinary process that needs to be followed. There is an inmate appeal process that needs to be followed. There are ethical decisions that need to be made. In a situation like the one described above, it might be handled by charging the inmate with aggravated battery for spitting at the staff, but no mention of the grabbing by the throat would likely be reported.
Grievance mechanisms are valuable tools for conflict resolution which have been used successfully in universities, labor unions, governmental agencies, and many other organizations. In order to ensure fairness and efficacy, grievance systems must be administered with a clear set of procedural rules and safeguards. It is essential that the grieving party be given a full opportunity to present his/her complaint to an impartial decision-maker, and that a final decision be made only after a robust, merits-based investigation of the complaint. A grievance system does more harm than good when it purports to resolve disputes, but in actuality ignores the merits of disputes.
Unit 9 - At the completion of this unit, the student will:
Review the major issues addressed in the course.
Assignment
Review the papers at the National Institute of Corrections http://www.nicic.org/pubs/jails.htm
Final Examination: Your grade for the course will be weighted as follows: Written Assignments = 50%, Final Exam = 50%. In order to successfully complete the course you MUST complete the written assignments and, take the final examination. If you live within 50 miles of the campus, you MUST take the final examination on campus. You may contact the Learning Assistance Center at (562) 692-0921 x 4016 or 3169 to schedule taking the final exam. The Learning Assistance Center is located at the Police Academy which is on the main campus on Canyon Drive. If you live over 50 miles from the college the exam may be proctored at your location. Contact your instructor for details.
If you experience any difficulty or need any further clarification, contact the Online Coordinator, Carley Mitchell at mitchellcarley@hotmail.com