Corrections_Today_May_June_2020_Vol.82_No.3

Correctional Chaplain Perspectives

A common practice: situational awareness

way, and can work in a complemen- tary way together. Joined under the one roof and goal of correction, they help their institutions to be prepared for the worst while leaving the door open for hope and transformation. 1 Correctional systems fail if they become either naive or callous. The common purpose of both types of situational awareness is to prepare professionals to be able to take appropriate and swift action when needed — sometimes that’s compas- sionate presence and sometimes it is initiating a use of force. CPE has the unique potential to be a transformative force in corrections because it supports the cultivation of hope and a special sensitivity to noticing and facilitating the positive potential

the positive potential in people and organizations. Alone, this approach would be naive and dangerous, but integrated into departments and facilities, chaplains can inject a spirit of respect and human dignity into the environment that will ultimately improve the effectiveness and advance the purpose of correctional institutions. So how does CPE help chaplains gain the needed skills and cultivate this mindset of hope and emotional connection? CPE’s approach is context-specific, self-directed, and relational. Context-specific learning CPE always occurs within a specific context and each CPE program’s curriculum is designed to address the realities of that context. CPE programs require students to offer spiritual care as employees or interns full- or part-time. Employed correctional chaplains who can only find CPE programs outside cor- rections will certainly benefit from CPE, especially if they are begin- ning students enrolled in their first or second unit. However, they won’t gain as much perspective on unique correctional issues like in different cultures, traumas, and dynamics. In the same way that correctional de- partments use training academies to impart correctional common sense to new staff, CPE for correctional chap- lains will be more relevant if offered in its own context. For example, prison chaplains may not need as much familiarity with hospice and end-of-life issues, but certainly need to be familiar with supporting people struggling with cultures of manipula- tion, complicated grief, the life-long

Although spiritual care pro- fessionals and correctional professionals share this significant common grounding in human dig- nity, they seem to diverge in some sense in the practical mindset they bring to their work. On first look, this difference seems to be encapsu- lated in a different understanding of the term “situational awareness.” For correctional officers, the term refers to a required vigilance regard- ing potential problems and threats. Because the correctional context is uniquely dangerous and difficult, it is appropriate for correctional officers (COs) to cultivate a posture that an- ticipates, avoids, and mitigates risk. Well-trained COs take in a situation and ask themselves, “What could go wrong here/now/next? And how can I help avoid that?” Situational awareness is also an important skill for spiritual caregiv- ers to cultivate — but chaplains look for different things and with a differ- ent purpose: chaplains listen for the others’ resources for meaning-mak- ing in order to offer compassion and emotional presence to them. Well- trained chaplains take in a situation and ask themselves, “What might this person be feeling?” “How might I somehow meet them human-to- human in a real, meaningful way?” “And how might I help them tap into an inner resource to overcome, to create, to cope?” These two approaches might seem contradictory or opposed to each other, but in fact, they are two sides of the same coin. They each honor human dignity in their own important

in people and organizations.

Thus, CPE has the unique po- tential to be a transformative force in corrections because it supports the cultivation of hope and a special sensitivity to noticing and facilitating

Corrections Today May/June 2020 — 17