NCJ Number
209480
Journal
Corrections Today Volume: 67 Issue: 2 Dated: April 2005 Pages: 24-27
Date Published
April 2005
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article discusses the four intervention strategies under the National Institute of Corrections’, Institutional Culture Initiative (ICI), an examination of institutional prison culture for improvements within the corrections enviroment.
Abstract
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Corrections’ (NIC), Institutional Culture Initiative (ICI), culture is defined as values, assumptions and beliefs that correctional staff hold in common. The NIC initiative examines institutional culture nationwide and has progressed to include four intervention strategies which are discussed in this article: organizational culture assessment, promoting a positive corrections culture, strategic planning and management and leading and sustaining change, and an evaluation method to measure their impact on an institution’s culture. Corrections professionals are constantly learning new ways to examine and change culture through this initiative. The results of the evaluation using collected data from each institution participating in the NIC-ICI consisting of several components and identifying and developing a series of measures and instruments (i.e. the Criminal Justice Institute’s version of the Cameron and Quinn Organizational Culture Assessment Inventory-Prisons, Sweeney and McFarlin scale of organizational justice, and Orthner scale of organizational learning) are forthcoming, and will guide and refine the endeavor to help correctional staff improve their work environment and effectiveness with inmates.