The myriad of challenges with correctional change: From goals to culture

Abstract

Presently, many correctional organizations seek to change both policy and practice to improve offender outcomes. The occupational roles played by both staff and management represent an imperative part of the change equation. This article provides a historical and scientific overview of the scholarship on occupational roles within correctional agencies discussing how theoretical shifts in ideology impact correctional organizations and how correctional workers think, behave and make decisions regarding the individuals they supervise. We focus on the current shift emphasizing the use of evidence-based practices (EBPs), which presents new challenges for correctional organizations. We present two case examples of EBP implementation; one aiming to shift the correctional culture and communication within a correctional facility and the second focusing on the implementation of contingency management in community corrections settings. This research highlights the challenges associated with change within correctional environments, but also provides promising findings regarding successful implementation of EBPs within correctional organizations.

Operationalizing Risk, Need, and Responsivity Principles in Local Policy: Lessons From Five County Juvenile Probation Departments

“…First, variations in the PO’s rehabilitative role raise questions about whether frontline POs can realistically be re-cast as change agents to routinely apply interventions and risk-need-responsivity strategies in their interactions with clients (Bourgon et al, 2012; Marroney et al, 2010). While this offers the promise of rehabilitative impact through skill-building (Smith et al, 2012) and enhanced systemic responsivity (Taxman, 2014), it also calls for profound cultural and role transformations that challenge traditional correctional norms, which may be difficult to implement (Lynch, 1998; Rudes, Lerch, & Taxman, 2011; Viglione, Rudes, & Taxman, 2015b). The feasibility of this approach likely hinges on departmental leadership, organizational culture, and staff competencies (Fixsen et al, 2005).…”

Effective Practices in Community Supervision model: Staff perceptions of the model and implementation

“…Despite the development of evidence-based curriculum for community supervision practitioners and the wealth of research that indicates integration of RNR principles and CCPs is vital to successful treatment and supervision outcomes in a variety of settings and with various types of individuals (Dowden and Andrews, 2004; Skeem et al, 2007; Smith et al, 2009), there are still substantial barriers to successful implementation and long-term sustainability of RNR principles, CCPs, and, more generally, EBPs (Fixsen et al, 2005, 2009; Joyce and Showers, 2002; Miller and Mount, 2001; Viglione et al, 2015b).…”

“…The move toward EBPs has brought about several challenges to on-the-ground use and sustainability of best practices to affect change (Latessa et al, 2016; Rhine et al, 2006; Viglione et al, 2018). Generally, programs and practices specific for system-involved individuals are implemented with little fidelity and limited integration, and infrequently sustain at high fidelity (Fixsen et al, 2013; Lowenkamp et al, 2006, 2010; Miller and Maloney, 2013; Viglione et al, 2015b). Human service agencies are complex and everchanging, seemingly in a constant state of transition that affects not only the clients served but also the staff responsible for serving clients (Bertram et al, 2015; Fixsen et al, 2005; Gleicher, 2018).…”

“…The emphasis on EBPs has had significant challenges and barriers in real-world application, implementation, and sustainability within and across community correctional agencies, particularly when it comes to fidelity and adherence to these EBPs (Lowenkamp et al, 2006, 2013; Porporino, 2018; Taxman and Belenko, 2012; Viglione et al, 2018). An understudied, yet important area of community corrections are the frontline workers (hereafter referred to as POs for probation and parole officers) tasked with using, implementing, sustaining, supervising, overseeing, and maintaining the quality of these practices (Viglione et al, 2015b) and overall processes that help or hinder implementation, sustainability, and fidelity to these EBPs (Elliott and Mihalic, 2004; Taxman and Belenko, 2012). With approximately 4.4 million adults under community correctional supervision in the United States as of 2018 (Kaeble and Alper, 2020), it is vital to understand not just what works but how EBPs can be best translated into the real world.…”

Facilitators of Practitioner Adherence to a Risk/Need Assessment Tool: Hypothesis Testing on a Survey of Juvenile Probation Officers

“…The implementation of evidence-based policies in correctional settings is challenging (Viglione, 2017). While organizational reform almost always requires effort and time (Bertram et al, 2015; Damschroder et al, 2009; Fixsen et al, 2005) in community corrections settings, reforms are often further impeded by a legacy of enforcement-oriented goals, risk aversion, and resistance to change (Burrell & Rhine, 2013; Viglione, 2017; Viglione et al, 2015b).…”