Giving someone a meal will keep hunger away for a day. But to teach a person to fish can keep hunger away forever. The role of a true mentor is to plant the seeds of capability and knowledge in fertile ground.
When the experienced become mentors, corrections has a potentially potent tool for staff training. Granted, policy and procedure are written cues on how any new person should perform. But experience-laden advice about how most prisoners are likely to react to any given situation is also very valuable. Read more…
joebouchard Assessing the organization, Staff relations, Training
Assertive behaviors and aggressive gestures are like the truth. It is all in the eyes of the beholder. Like so many things in life, this, like the truth, is relative. It is usually absolute.
An airport is a wonderful place to people watch and to ponder assertion and aggression. So much can be learned by how we move. We rush from place to place in groups as though we are herd animals.
But there are variations. Read more…
joebouchard Self Scrutiny, Staff relations
The following is an excerpt from Joe Bouchard’s keynote speech to the Wisconsin Correctional Association in September. Thanks to the wonderful corrections professionals that make up this association.
Staff division is like an immense wall barring access to the ideal of safety. The existence of division makes possible lapsed vigilance, vengeance, sabotage, and even violence. Sadly, this is one of corrections’ stressors over which we have a degree of command – but never seem to control.
Identifying that which divides us is very simple. It is difficult, however, to reverse inter-staff animosity and derision once it starts. Read more…
joebouchard Self Scrutiny, Staff relations, Training
Like cuddling a cactus, dealing with bullies in any vocation is about as uncomfortable as one can get. This discomfort is intensified in the always dangerous profession of corrections. Still, the hurt is mitigated a bit if we can gain an understanding of the many nuances of the problem. This allows us more information find a solution.
Recently, I presented “Destination Intimidation: Bullying in Corrections” At a large state correctional association conference. The following week, I presented the same program at and at an Eastern county correctional association conference.
Among the many techniques that bullies use, I explained to both groups the POINTS bully classification that I created. Read more…
joebouchard Self Scrutiny, Staff relations
The following is an excerpt from Joe Bouchard’s keynote speech to the Wisconsin Correctional Association in September 2010. Thanks to the wonderful corrections professionals that make up this association.
I gained a little medical wisdom from my doctor recently. She and I discussed what has been described to me as my loud snoring. We sought to eliminate variables. One topic that we touched upon was my choice of pillows. She said seven words to me that started a strange chain of thinking. “A pillow is a very personal thing.”
This made perfect sense to me. And I took this phrase and applied it to the notion of family. Just like with a perfect pillow, if you are comfortable with a family, you will very likely get a good night’s sleep. If the pillow (or family) is not a good fit for you, the discomfort may keep you up at night.
There is no perfect pillow for everyone. There is no uniform panacea. There is no one-size-fits-all. If you are comfortable with a flat pillow, it does not matter if the majority prefers two fluffy pillows. What works best for you is best for you. A bad fit can be tolerated, but is less than optimal. A pillow is a very personal thing. Read more…
joebouchard Assessing the organization, Staff relations, What the...?!?
The following, Dear Reader, is not a self-congratulatory celebration of me as a working class hero. Nor is this a damnation of the work habits of people from years ago. Rather, this is an illustration of the personality type that I call “glory grabber”.
We can define glory grabbers as individuals that steal the credit from others. Their main objective is to appear to be the prime movers in all work endeavors. Their true labor is in seeming to be busy only when they are watched by those in authority. Glory grabbers impact corrections operations in a negative way. Their actions cause resentment and division among staff. And staff division, through a variety of possible occurrences, diminishes safety.
Nearly twenty-five years ago, I saw a perfect example of glory grabbers. It was March. Because of an unusually rapid snow melt, Doom Sayers were predicting horrible flooding. I was working for a small business on the edge of a large lake. Read more…
joebouchard Assessing the organization, Inside Out, Staff relations
So many problems between people are rooted in differing perspectives. The truth is relative, not absolute. In fact, the truth can be very personal.
Think of two drivers in different cars vying for one coveted parking spot. Both cars circle, waiting for an opening.
In most cases, the closest, fastest, or most aggressive driver will claim the spot. It is my understanding that there is no law against this sort of behavior. Saving parking spots, like cutting in line, is rude. But, it is not a crime. Read more…
joebouchard Assessing the organization, Self Scrutiny, Staff relations
Imagine a formidable citadel, completely impervious to invasion. The structure is an utterly unassailable fortress. In other words, no one can get inside without assistance from those within.
Of course, an alternative to banging on the front door is to find the key and enter. Yet, who but the very brave or equally foolish would walk up to the front door, use the key, and enter into the presumably heavily fortified territory of an enemy?
The foregoing is not some sort of allusion to The Lord of the Rings or any other against-all-odds literary journey. This is a parallel to our real life battle against staff division. Read more…
joebouchard Staff relations
By Lt. Gary F. Cornelius (retired)
Recently I entered a new phase of my correctional career-conducting jail officer basic training in the Commonwealth of Virginia. After I retired from jail duty, I got back into writing and conducting jail in service training. I have now been asked to help out several academies by conducting state approved jail basic courses in legal matters, special inmate populations and suicide prevention.
I have to admit-I enjoy it. New recruits or what we affectionately like to call “rookies” not only need the book learning and skills training to pass the academy, but they need the wisdom and lessons learned by us veterans. All of us veterans who have worked in corrections a long time know that we are different at this point in our careers than when we started. Read more…
joebouchard Guest Author, Security, Staff relations, Training
At the American Correctional Association Conference in Chicago last week, I presented a workshop called Destination Intimidation. This dealt with recognizing bullies in correctional workplace. It was well attended by energetic and insightful participants.
At the conclusion of Destination Intimidation, I distributed a survey about the bullying topic. Almost everyone shared their knowledge. So, in the spirit of expanding the base of corrections knowledge, here is what our colleagues had to say. Read more…
joebouchard Assessing the organization, Self Scrutiny, Staff relations, Training
