NCJ Number
215909
Journal
Corrections Today Magazine Volume: 68 Issue: 5 Dated: August 2006 Pages: 78-80
Date Published
August 2006
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This article promotes proactive correctional leadership that prepares for the future by examining empirical research that shows what the future is likely to be.
Abstract
One of the most important activities of correctional leadership is to keep informed about the research findings regarding broad trends likely to impact corrections. As an example, this article cites research that shows an aging workforce in State government, nationwide employee turnover rates at the highest levels in a decade, an increasingly lower ratio of probable workers to probable retirees, and eligibility for retirement of 60 percent of all corrections executives within the next 5 years. Collectively, these data, among other data, show a trend toward a crisis in corrections personnel resources in the near future. Proactive leaders will base their current planning and decisionmaking according to this likely future. This enables the corrections enterprise to avoid being caught by surprise in an impending crisis that could have been predicted and avoided through proactive planning and implementation. Correctional leaders must interact with researchers to increase the relevance of both fields in making the decisions necessary to guide the corrections enterprise into the future. For corrections leaders, this means paying attention to researchers' findings over time that indicate trends. Corrections leaders should also insist that researchers focus on issues that have practical relevance to their planning and decisionmaking. Researchers must, in turn, consult with corrections leaders to become familiar with the practical considerations that will determine corrections' directions for the future. They must also find accessible vehicles for regularly informing corrections leaders of their findings and suggestions for practical implications. 22 notes