Look at the world through the eyes of trust. What do you see? Is every action that you view a model of altruism? Or do you see that which forces you to avert your gaze? Trust is in the eye of the beholder. What does this mean to corrections staff?
Professionalism is important to most corrections staff. Most of us can resist the temptation and very human quality of letting our emotions dictate our actions. Those in our ranks who deviate from policy and procedure give us reason to ponder our integrity as a group. Issues of trust in corrections may not be a comfortable topic. But it is very necessary to discuss. Read more…
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joebouchard Assessing the organization, Staff relations
She had been called to duty. She sat in the front row of the jury box. Never before had she faced such weighty decisions.
There was more on her mind, though, than the verdict. It seemed to her that the prosecution, defense, and the judge were gauging her expression through the trial. Every time she looked up, at least one of those three were reading their effectiveness by looking at her eyes. She was the barometer, and she did not like it.
Like it or not, there are those among us who reveal our innermost thoughts through expressions. Non-verbal communication, as conventional wisdom has it, accounts for over 90% of all communications. Read more…
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joebouchard Self Scrutiny, Uncategorized
Bill looked at me with a totally serious expression. “For this to happen, you have to think like a weed.” He was addressing the immaculate state of his lush lawn. His grass was a vision of perfection – a veritable green shag carpet, living, breathing, awe-inspiring and growing. It was bereft of weeds and looked too real to be real. While I understand that weeds do not think, Bill meant that he attacked the weaknesses of those plants balanced against grass growing agents.
Weeding out contraband from our facilities is more than the ascetics of lawn care. The element of safety is inherent in the exercise. Of course, every bit of contraband removed from circulation levels the playing field.
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joebouchard Contraband Control
Wardens, as we all know, have so many responsibilities. Every occurrence on facility grounds poses a potential crisis. Administrators must consider physical plant, constitutional rights, and political and societal trends. And all of that has to be placed on the very necessary template of safety for staff, offenders and the public. The responsibility is awesome. The accountability is stupefying. It is truly dizzying when one thinks about it.
Do wardens have time and inclination to think about staff development? Is there enough room on the already full plate to ponder the necessity of continued education for professionals? What do wardens need to know about training in these dire economic times? Read more…
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joebouchard Training
In part I of “There’s one in every group!” we defined major training interrupters. There are five major perpetrators of Instruction Interruptus, a veritable A-list of discourtesy. They are the Inpatient Information Seeker, the Attention Monger, the Apple Polisher, the Loquacious, and the Malevolent. Now let’s look at some of the damage caused by these A-list disruptors.
So, what is the big deal about a few seemingly innocuous interruptions? Read more…
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joebouchard Staff relations, Training
Imagine the stress of caring for a large number of people. You have to distribute resources equally, sustain interlocking systems, and maintain order. Does this sound like your institution?
This example comes to mind not from an 800 bed correctional facility, but through a documentary show about a family in Pennsylvania. This young married couple, through the course of two multiple-birth pregnancies, produced eight children. Each television episode explores the complexities of caring for such a large household.
On the face of it, the life of a large family may not seem like a significant point of consideration for corrections professionals. Read more…
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joebouchard Assessing the organization, Inside Out
Moderation is not always practiced in the work world. The field of corrections is no exception to this rule. This is true in how we perform our jobs. There are really three kinds of performances. The ideal is a high performer. The high performer is neither a slovenly slacker nor an obsessive overachiever. Read more…
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joebouchard Self Scrutiny, Staff relations
How many times have you seen what promised to be a positive training event turn sour because someone in class had an overriding compulsion to make unnecessary distractions? Despite the knowing eye rolls exchanged by quieter colleagues, the interrupter will not relinquish the floor to the facilitator without difficulty. At training time, this phrase rings particularly true: “There’s one in every group!” Read more…
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joebouchard Staff relations, Training
You can take the person out of the corrections. But can you keep corrections out of the person? Can professionals clock out and leave all deeply ingrained corrections habits behind the walls? Or are we doomed to perpetually monitor and observe even when we are in our relatively safe place away from the institution? Read more…
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joebouchard Inside Out, Self Scrutiny, Uncategorized
Last week, a corrections training colleague from a North East state contacted me regarding contraband control. He wanted to converse about about an article that I published in 2006. The article was called “A big Deal About a Little Contraband”. His main goal was to expand his agency’s contraband control training module. Read more…
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joebouchard Contraband Control, Self Scrutiny
