Correctional Management and Prison Issues

Correctional management contains a wide variety of issues and implementations in America's criminal justice system. The first and foremost part of correctional management deals with the safety and security of staff and its offenders. Generally, the administration within the institution has to declare what it safe versus what is not. Policies and rules are generated every single time an incident takes place. For instance, a policy may be in place that allows one officer to transport one offender from death row to either visitation or a medical visit. It is until one day where a violent offender gets out of his handcuffs and hurts the officer, this will immediately change policy. Correctional management may implement policies that may make it against the rules for one officer to transport a death row offender. Of course this is just an example as to what can happen and in some prisons that I have worked it has happened.

A different part of correctional management is health care which can be very controversial and pose many issues. Within a prison, administrators are charged with ensuring that all offenders receive proper medical treatment that adheres to the policy. Some prisons around the country have their own medical facilities as others get charged fees to take their prisoners to a hospital. One issue that is at the concern of the public is how prison units handle cases of spider bites. If you worked in a correctional unit you would know exactly what I am talking about here in this section. It is my personal experience where I saw offenders with open wounds that were bleeding and leaking. Clearly, this is a gory site and it is bad when the correctional facility just gives them gauze and Neosporin.

One of the most important issues of correctional management is rehabilitation. Throughout the United States there are many programs in which are directed towards establishing some form of rehabilitation. Rehabilitation is a wide topic that faces rehabilitating drug users, habitual offenders as well as offenders with mental issues. In some cases these rehabilitation programs are operated by the correctional institution with the professional assistance of doctors, mental health specialists, psychiatrists and other additional staff.

Day in and day out many different issues will arise within the correctional system but it is where the correctional management either makes changes to correct issues and implement new programs or plans. Correctional units are based like a city of its own with its own budget, committees, administration, support staff, vehicles, and property.