The New Correctional Era

Abstract

Changes in the treatment of criminals usually have required increases in size and changes in training of treatment staffs. The pattern currently emerging, pioneered in the care of the mentally ill, involves less exclusive reliance on highly trained treatment specialists and more infusion of treatment concerns and skills in line staff. Also, the boundary between institution and community treatment is becoming obscured because of new transitional pro cedures and facilities.

Strains develop with these changes because of inmate and staff comfort in fixed statuses, defects in much new treatment, inadequate research to evaluate treatment, and failure to recog nize that optimum treatment varies with the type of offender. The changes also create severe manpower problems. Shortages in re search personnel can be met by new recruitment strategies and by procedures which combine operations and research records, thus improving both. The primary need, however, is in recruit ment and training of line personnel who are committed to cor rectional careers and oriented to correctional change. The Cor rectional Rehabilitation Study Act of 1965 mobilizes educational and professional organizations for coordinated effort to meet these needs.