Feature Articles

Gene C. Baldwin
Correctional Healthcare Consulting
5099 China Road * Tell City IN 47586
(812) 843-5048
www.gcbaldwin.com

“Solving Tomorrow’s Problems Today”

"What's Right with Corrections?"

At times, the news media seems to excel at highlighting what’s wrong with corrections -- at least to the degree that it thrives on sensationalism and the belief that there is little audience for good news.

While correctional professionals know better than anyone what is wrong with jails and prisons, they know better still what is right . Corrections trade publications are full of stories about the sucesses of special programs, but little of this good news seems to ever appear before the general public.

On the contrary, the public’s collective concept of the corrections environment is limited to the residual dramatic imagery provided by television and movies. It is against this stereotypical and often distorted backdrop that the public’s awareness of current jail and prison issues is molded, primarily by investigative reporters.

Correctional professionals must therefore realize that they need to deal with what the public doesn’t know about corrections as well as what it thinks it knows. While acknowledging the problems we have, we must also lead public awareness away from the hyperbole and cynicism, refocusing it instead on what is right with corrections.

Open-house events, media tours and press releases all present opportunities for your staff and facilities to shine. Point out technological applications, vocational programs and healthcare facilities. Every operation has something good going for it that the public would be amazed to learn of.

We must shed light on what’s right while working on what’s wrong.