Corrections_Today_Summer_2025_Vol.87_No.2

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with Kent State University and Ohio State University. The man clearly took advantage of the scholarly community in his state. With its 27 prisons and approximately 50,000 inmate population, Ohio is one of the larger Corrections Departments in the nation. Director Stickrath’s book would have benefited from a more indigenous explanation - uniquely Ohioan factors - for the large growth in prison population, particularly since he started his career in 1979, when the population was considerably lower. Another area that needed some more causal explanation, albeit brief, is the inter-agency conflicts he mentioned. Given the fact that he worked in multiple agencies, Director Stickrath’s opinion would have been rather insightful and authoritative on these bureaucratic roadblocks, such as the conflict between the Ohio Highway State Patrol and elected county sheriffs and how he provided a resolution to this conflict. Similarly, the discordant relationship between the Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections and the Mental Health Department in managing mentally ill offenders needed a bit more elaboration. Or the inter-agency conflict that revealed itself when the local prosecutor, initially, declined to prosecute the physically abusive correctional staff at the ORV juvenile facility because the youths were seen as criminals outside of the area where facility was located. A bit more explanation was in order. Director Tom Stickrath’s memoir “My Life of Managing Crime” is an engaging read. I would be

remiss if I did not mention the humorous incidents and stories, such as the 650-pound inmate being transferred to prison by a piano van, or the idiosyncrasies of one of the First Ladies (Dagmar Celeste). This book would be beneficial to aspiring correctional managers and executives, or required reading for senior leadership training programs, such as Minnesota Department of Corrections’ Advance Leadership Development Program or ALDP (a program this reviewer graduated from). Or placed as a resource guide for members of professional affiliations, such as the Association of State Corrections Administrators (ASCA). In addition to the broad leadership traits mentioned above, invaluable lessors are imparted, such as the need to follow ethical overtones, as a culture of ethics has evolved in the industry; ability to adapt, such as transitioning from adult to juvenile systems; importance of compartmentalization, etc. A great takeaway from this book is the need to build goodwill: early in his career, Mr. Stickrath developed an amicable relationship with a prison psychologist by the name of Ted Strickland; years later that prison psychologist became Governor of the State of Ohio and became his supportive boss. CT REFERENCES: Aufderheide, Dean. (Winter 2025). Mad or bad? Assessing suicide and self-injury risk in corrections. Corrections Today , V. 86, p. 112. Bosworth, M., Campbell, D., Demby, B., Ferranti, S. M., & Santos, M. (2005). Doing prison research: Views from inside. Qualitative Inquiry, V. 11, pp. 249-264.

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Summer 2025 | Corrections Today

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