Being Professional in Prisons (From Role of Psychologists in the Criminal Justice System, P 1-15, 1983, Grant Wardlaw, ed. - See NCJ-92075)

• NCJ Number: 92076
• Author(s): P N Priest; J Piotrowski
• Date Published: 1983
• Length: 15 pages
• Sale Source: Australian Institute of Criminology; National Institute of Justice/
• Language: English
• Country: Australia

Annotation

If psychologists in Australian correctional settings are to upgrade their role to that of 'autonomous professionals,' they must adopt a strategy to convince targeted persons of their professional credentials and capabilities; the production of a handbook portraying the profession is one vehicle for doing this.

Abstract

Given the ill-defined nature of the psychologist's role in the prison setting, the psychologist may adopt one of the following orientations: (1) the private practitioner, which involves providing services to the inmates in a manner similar to the self-employed psychologist in the general population; (2) the organization supporter, which consists of forging a role designed to support the existing institutional system; (3) the organization challenger, which involves actively changing the system so as to eliminate debilitating influences upon offenders while constructing positive influences; and (4) the autonomous professional, which involves a flexible application of the psychologist's knowledge base, research skills, helping techniques, and problemsolving methodology to correctional problems. The orientation of the autonomous professional is the best of the role models. If this orientation is to develop in corrections, psychologists must organize to develop a strategy for marketing such a role to an identified market. Psychologists should market their profession to departmental executives, institutional heads and their immediate deputies, prison officers, probation and parole officers, medical officers and ancillary staff, and chaplains. One means of marketing the profession is through a handbook of the profession. The handbook might include (1) a brief history of the use of psychology within correctional settings, (2) a statement of the philosophy of the particular psychology unit, (3) any legal parameters which control the conduct of psychologists, (4) codes of ethics of psychologists, (5) departmental regulations affecting psychologists, and (6) a description of the informal channels of communication which expedite the psychologist's functioning within the institution. Twenty-two references are listed.