Different Perspective of Liability
There are various liabilities which are seen in the correctional facilities. These liabilities are associated with leadership, decision making, and risk management. The leadership system that is chosen determines how the correctional facility will be run. It will establish whether there will be peace at the correctional officers, whether the officers will be treating the inmates’ right and ensuring their rights, such as medical care and food, is provided. The officers have to consider various factors when making decisions. They have to analyze the facts, for example, in the prison environment and any factors that need to be changed to ensure the welfare of the inmates. Alternatives have to be sought, for instance, on punishment, instead of isolation; hard labor may be used since isolation may have health effects. The risks of the decisions have to be determined, and the consequences (Editorial Board, 2014). An officer beating up an inmate due to not following the established rules may result in liabilities associated with causing harm to the prisoner.
The leadership style chosen should be able to create harmony, unity, and run the facility effectively. The correctional officers should make sure that the officers are aware of the duties and responsibilities they have on a daily basis. The officers should be aware of their duties and same time ensuring that the rights of the inmates are upheld. Risk management is essential in the prisons to avoid causing harm to the inmates due to the liability associated. In case of misconduct of the officers and mistreating the inmates, the officer, correctional leader, and the agency may get sued. The levels of liability are civil actions, and these are a violation of civil rights, negligence actions, and intentional torts. Criminal actions that lead to liability are depravation of rights, state criminal actions, and deliberate indifference. The liabilities are expensive for the sued individuals and may destroy their career.
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Why Leadership Styles May Need To Be Adjusted In Different Prison Environments
The prison environments are dynamic and often dangerous due to a large number of criminal offenders held in the prisons. The leaders have to keep on adjusting the methods they use to ensure that effective management of the correctional facility is made possible. If the leaders do not adjust their leadership style depending on the prison situations, it may cause excessive stress, and the leaders will be inadequate thus affecting the way the correctional facility is run (Clear, Reisig, & Cole, 2018). There are different causes of stress which require the changes in leadership, such as lack of support from wardens, inconsistent discipline from the prisoners and the wardens and poor communication methods. The changes in leadership will make it possible to handle every situation differently without causing stress to the leader.
The correctional officer should learn the prison environment and learn when to use a specific leadership style. The leader should be aware of when the wardens require motivation and intellectual stimulation and apply transformation leadership. When considering improving the hospital environment, the leader can use a democratic leadership style. In that way, other stakeholders, such as the inmates and wardens, will contribute their ideas and opinions on the improvements that should be done. In that way, the leader does not need to carry the burden of making decisions on their own, which can be stressing. At times, the implementation of decisions made is hard in the correctional facilities, and the leader would be required to use dictatorship (Editorial Board, 2014). The leadership style will be essential in making sure that everything is carried out as expected. The leader in a correctional facility has to be flexible to be able to keep on changing the leadership styles depending on the situation so that stress can be reduced and everything to run smoothly.
Handling Ethical Issues in the Correctional Institutions
The correctional institutions have a code of ethics which is supposed to guide the officers on how they act and handle the inmates. However, dealing with lawbreakers can be tiring, and chances of the officers ignoring the ethical codes are high. There are various unethical cases that may be found in the prisons such as the mistreating the inmates, not reporting on prisoners altercations, which is required by the law and others. These factors may cause liability in case one of the inmates ends up hurt, and they decide to sue the prison.
Leaders can avoid these ethical issues through various issues. There should be established correctional/disciplinary systems which will be used to ensure that the officers are following the established work rules and failure will result in punishment, such as being laid down. The leader should establish a policy which clearly defines behaviors which are prohibited. The staff members should be trained regularly and oriented continuously to ensure that they are aware of the working rules. Running a correctional facility is not easy (Clear, Reisig, & Cole, 2018). The leader has to be aware of how they will apply different leadership styles for effective managing of the prison. The ethical rules should be specific, and failure to following them should be punished as they could cause liabilities for the correctional institution.
References
Clear, T. R., Reisig, M. D., & Cole, G. F. (2018). American corrections. Cengage Learning.
Editorial Board, (2014). Corrections: Legal Issues in Corrections. Words of Wisdom, LLC. https://ebooksbvd.my-education-connection.com/read/9781943926275/9781943926275_1_xhtml
