Corrections_Today_May-June_2022_Vol.84_No.3

citizens which acknowledge a shared responsibility for public safety. 4 The United Nations goes as far as to state reformation of a prison system always requires consider ing the criminal justice system must be reformed as a whole and therefore, an integrated, multidisciplinary strat egy is necessary to achieve any sustainable change. 5 Correctional officers are an integral part of mass incar ceration reform, whether they or others readily understand their impact on the conversation. Correctional officers and their attitudes toward the profession and mass incarcera tion will be consequential for future policymaking and implementations aimed at addressing the nation’s long running trend toward mass incarceration. 6 Correctional officers are the individuals who will be implementing the policies created by lawmakers. It is essential correctional officers receive an invitation to participate in opportuni ties to present knowledge about mass incarceration to the public. In addition, it is essential correctional officers accept the invitation and actively participate in the oppor tunity to engage with the public. What voices are being considered currently? The Big Lockup was developed with tremendous oversight and effort. The exhibit was a product of a coop erative effort from internal and external stakeholders. The process included holding focus groups to have input and advice from staff and historians, artists, educators, civil rights attorneys, academics, individuals with conviction histories and leaders of non-profit organizations. 1 These voices are essential for a multidisciplinary approach to an exhibit on mass incarceration. They provide insight from their focal point of expertise. Groups like the ACLU, NAACP, The Sentencing Project, Prison Policy Initiative and Vera Institute of Justice are listed as contributors. The exhibit also pulls source material from the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice, U.S. Depart ment of Education, California Senate Office Research and National Center for Education Statistics. 1 These sources are government sources and are appropriate to the ex hibit’s mission. However, agencies and organizations that specialize in correctional services were absent from the process. Connecting correctional professionals with the advo cates, grassroots representatives and academics already

participating in the discussions of mass incarceration and the exhibit’s development would significantly broaden the educational content of the exhibits and help create solu tions to issues of mass incarceration facing the nation. Corrections is such a vast discipline with different agencies, departments, job descriptions and responsi bilities. Gaining full participation from all corners of corrections is impractical for every discussion or project focused on corrections in the United States. There are resources and government bodies that can contribute significantly to past, present and future is sues in corrections. The National Institute of Corrections (NIC), which Congress created in 1974, was developed to serve as a center for correctional knowledge and to offer leadership guidance and assistance to the field of corrections, and to function as a resource for all things corrections. 7 The NIC is a prime example of a govern mental organization that can be a resource for bringing correctional information to the masses. The NIC offers a resource bank that provides a bridge to the correctional professional and a side of the conver sation that represents the practitioner. It is crucial for the discussion on a national level to include correctional of ficers in the conversation surrounding policy and reform. Often seen as the enemy of the incarcerated, these individuals are the ones who have the most influence in achieving the overall mission of reform. Correctional officer attitudes are important in the undertaking of their daily duties and dictate their work performance. Since they play a crucial role in the implementation of criminal justice policy, their attitudes should be considered by scholars, advocates and practitioners seeking political strategies to build pathways to long-term and sustainable reforms needed within the correctional system. 6 Correctional officers are not only the ones implement ing policy change, but they have personal stakes in the outcomes of policies Correctional professionals need to take an interest and an initiative-taking stance in the group discussion because it is about them. Correctional officers are in the facilities daily. Correctional officers interact with the incarcerated population and justice-in volved individuals as fellow humans rather than numbers on the page or stories on the wall. Correctional officers are the practitioners with stories to tell and experiences to offer to the conversation and the public who may never have any personal contact with corrections. →

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