Stress has been described as the outcome of demands exceeding available resources. This statement captures the biggest challenge facing correctional agencies today. Due to conditions outside of their control, correctional agencies may have been operating for years under the motto of “doing more with less.” What is problematic about this approach?
To put it simply, “doing more with less” is unsustainable, resulting in staff malfunctioning and agency malfunctioning. If resources are insufficient for shoring up burdens, and conditions continue unabated, whole systems eventually buckle under the excess weight. As one sergeant sarcastically told me, “Doing more with less is doing less with less.”
Outcomes of such malfunctioning at work are many. Individually, chronic stress and partial chronic sleep deprivation caused by mandatory overtime disrupt brain functioning, and decimate health and wellness. Operationally, policies are not followed; mistakes are made; accidents happen; angry outbursts and other inflammatory reactions replace de-escalating responses; unprofessional conduct abounds; lawsuits ensue. Consequences of Corrections Fatigue snowball. People die.
Agencies have also been requiring that staff focus on rehabilitative efforts of justice-involved persons in their care, a necessary but Herculean feat under the best of circumstances. For rehabilitation to have a chance to happen, key ingredients are needed, starting with staff safety, training, and wellness. When employees operate chronically under-staffed, under-trained, and exhausted, and while navigating considerable policy changes about the management of violent individuals, veritable rehabilitation remains a pipe dream. As one employee told me, staff are “being hit over the head with unachievable expectations. Make the most violent people behave like saints, with just good vibes.”
The end result is that all who are touched by the correctional system—staff, justice-involved persons, and their respective families—may end up harmed in some fashion. So, correctional staff with years of invaluable experience disengage or leave, doing the minimum, opting for other jobs, or taking early retirement. And the word gets out about the extremely stressful and dangerous working conditions, discouraging potential candidates from applying, further exacerbating the staffing crisis.
What can be done, if this noble and much-needed profession is to be salvaged and even advanced? In 1950, Norway was at a similar crossroads. Decision-makers opted to tear down the old malfunctioning system, and renew their thinking about the purpose of correctional systems. They ended up choosing to invest in the front end, starting with staff selection, education, and working conditions, and treating custody/security work as a true and respectable profession. Their reasoning was that even though this approach was expensive at the front end, the long-term savings would make the cost very much worth it.
Today the Norwegian prison system* is a light in the darkness, recognized worldwide as a best-practices model. Similarly, good places to start in the United States begin with educating top levels of our legislature about correctional realities, and investing in improved working conditions, including staff numbers and staff training. May the resources finally match and even exceed the demands. This of course is the ultimate big-picture, top-down solution that involves massive systemic changes. In addition to this substantial intervention, and while it is happening, there are steps that can be taken by staff at all three levels of organizations—top-down, horizontal, and bottom-up. No one needs to feel powerless to bring about positive changes in their sphere of influence, big or small.
*For a more detailed description of this approach, see the article Finding A Better Way Forward – What Needs To Change? What Do You Want To Change? How Do You Change? by Tor Erik Larsen HERE.
