Inmate Risk Management Research Paper

Throughout the United States, the prison systems are currently facing several major problems, such as overcrowding, racism, gang activity, privatization, and health & mental care. Historically, these problems are affecting the inmate’s behavior, challenging the approach that prison guards practice to control this conduct. The prison system fundamental goal is to provide a “safe and secure environment for inmates, staff, and visitors,” and in order to maintain it, prison guards is expected to provide an efficient inmate behavior management. In the last five years, the National Institute of Corrections has “trained people at 150 jails” that were part of the program.
The U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Corrections released

The risk of an inmate consists of how much of a danger they are to themselves and to others, generally implying to the likelihood that will escape. The prison systems need to measure the inmate’s physiological and psychological requirement for their well-being. By acknowledging the inmates’ risk and needs, it would provide clear and detailed policies and procedures for the classification of inmates. For example, inmates will have access to a counselor for any psychological needs or also, have access to a nurse for their physiological needs. The second element is assigned the inmates to proper housing units, according to their classification. Inmates would be separated for “disciplinary, protective custody, or other special needs.” Inmates will not be placed in a housing unit that is considered a threat to their safety. For instance, inmates that are classified as sex predators or child molesters will not be placed in a housing unit that is meant for the general population because they might be killed. The housing plan improves the security measures towards the inmates in several

The defining and conveying of inmate behavior expectations should be the primary goal for the inmate behavior management plan which set the atmosphere within the prison walls, indicating that it has a powerful effect on how the inmates act. Staff needs to communicate positive expectations for inmate’s behavior because it will become the norm between inmates. If the staff portrayed an aggressive and manipulative expectation, the inmates will adopt this negative demeanor and act accordingly. The expectations should be aimed high, but attainable because It would ensure that inmates maintained high expectations for their behavior. In order to establish these means, jail should convey their expectations both directly and indirectly therefore inmates should be informed about schedules, procedures, and services to follow the rules. When dealing with negative behavior, staff would react with disincentives, such as the “removal from the housing area, lockdown within the housing unit, lockdown within a disciplinary unit, loss of permission to attend programs, and loss of commissary privileges.” It would uncover the consequences of bad behavior to the inmates, sanctioning them to behave accordingly. However, when the inmates meet those expectations, guards reward them with