Corrections accreditation, privatization, and professional development in correctional systems

Corrections Accreditation and Privatization

Privatization and accreditation are some of the emerging and largely contentious issues in the corrections field. In this text, I concern myself with a number of issues relating to prisons privatization and corrections accreditation.

Corrections Accreditation

The American Correctional Association (n.d.) defines corrections accreditation as "a system of verification that correctional agencies/facilities comply with national standards promulgated by the American Correctional Association (ACA)." When seeking to be accredited, facilities must undergo a number of audits, critical evaluations and reviews.

It is important to note that corrections accreditation does have an effect on not only the facilities being accredited but also on corrections officers themselves in relation to their professional development. For instance, as ACA (n.d.) notes, one of the main benefits of correctional accreditation specifically to facilities has to do with the implementation of all the relevant procedures and policies. Further, to be accredited, facilities have to abide by all the specified guidelines in their day-to-day operations. Hence by working in accredited facilities, corrections officers develop a sense of professionalism in their approach to work. Further, according to ACA (n.d.), accreditation brings about "a higher level of staff professionalism and morale." A motivated workforce is likely to be professional in its approach to issues.

There are several approaches industry leaders can take to plan for both enhanced professionalization of correctional officers and accreditation. To begin with, they can seek to benchmark the approaches being used currently with the world's best practices in regard to accreditation and professionalization of correctional officers. Secondly, industry leaders could seek to come up with a well developed curriculum seeking to address the educational needs of correctional officers in a more concise and comprehensive way while taking into consideration emerging trends in the field.

Privatization of Prisons

In general terms, prison privatization entails both the transfer of public prisons already in operation to private entities as well as building of new prison facilities entirely or largely operated and managed by private operators.

It can be noted that in a way, prison privatization does have an actual impact on state and federal prisons. As Reid (2011) notes, a number of things have focused the attention of state and federal governments to privately run prisons. According to the author, these issues include but are not limited to budget cuts at both the federal and state level as well as the problem of prison overcrowding as a result of increasing jail populations. Hence effectively, private prisons do save the federal and state prisons some dollars in terms of maintenance in addition to offering a solution to the perennial problem of overcrowding. This in one way or the other enhances the effectiveness of both the federal and state prison systems.