Human Rights Approach to Prison Management - Essay Example

In any society that enjoys democracy, prison management is also a public service. Prisons should be regarded as places just like hospitals and schools. Prisons must be managed by civilians who have the goal of contributing for the good of society. Authorities responsible for the prisoners must have accountability and they should be able to report to the public from time to time about the condition of the prisons and the prisoners. The management of prisons must be within the ethical framework. Without ethics, there might be abuse of power because of the perception of one group being superior over the other. Prison management is the management of both the prisoners and prison staff. There are ethical considerations involved in the treatment of human beings even if they are prisoners. Prisoners may be locked and chained but they still retain their human rights as long as they live. Ethical considerations are important in the decision-making process because it involves the force, discretion and the due process that will enable people to make an enlightened and moral judgment. Sufficient knowledge in ethics will help an individual to question and make an analysis of the assumptions that are usually not questioned in other fields. The criminal justice system should also be questioned. The questioning that will be involved here would include issues such as the true relationship between justice and crime, the role of the police force, terms and conditions of punishment among others. Studying ethics will increase the sensitivity of law enforcement agencies to the issues of right and wrong (Banks, 2008). Knowledge in ethics will also help in checking the behavior of oneself and the identification of actions that are subjected to morality. Prison management also involves the study of ethical behavior. The study of ethics will help describe and identify what is unethical behavior. It also helps in the development of reasoning and analytical skills that are needed to further understand what is the theoretical and the practical aspects of the criminal justice system. A basic understanding of ethics will enable a person to appreciate complex acts that are ethical in nature. Without this knowledge in ethics, the professionals in the criminal justice system will not be ignorant of the moral issues that occur within the system. Law enforcers and other professionals involved in the criminal justice system can identify the ethical consequences of the different actions including the principles of morality that are involved (Kleinig, 2008). It is within the criminal justice system that ethics is essential in most of the decisions in policies and management concerning the punishment. Ethics is also the rationality being used in making the necessary decisions like the detention and rehabilitation. The criminal justice system is also composed of professionals who are able to exercise their authority and power over other people. They are also authorized in some cases to use force when necessary including the use of physical coercion (Delattre, 2002). The accepted standards of behavior or the law will impose the ethical responsibilities of these professionals. It should also follow criminal justice professionals must also know the ethical standards imposed upon them so that they are able to keep them in mind while doing their duties and responsibilities. Ethics is essential in making decisions that involve force because law enforcers may be tempted to cross the line and abuse their inherent powers. Normative ethics is the basic reference of making an ethical decision in the criminal justice system. The concept of normative ethics is that the conduct of the individual will consider the moral issues (Levinson, 2002). An individual should behave in the context of morality using the power of reason in deciding the proper way of displaying one's behavior. All personnel involved in the criminal justice system will face challenges and problems that would involve making a moral decision. The concept of criminal justice has also a foundation in the concern of society for giving the appropriate treatment of individuals who are accused of any wrongdoing. The criminal justice system must employ ethics because this will aid professionals within the system to make morally sound decisions and judgments. The knowledge of ethics will be the basis for a fair judgment in dealing with criminal cases and individuals who are detained in jail. It will also prevent the abuse of police authority over others. The rights of every individual will be respected regardless of the crime that has been committed. Authorities in the criminal justice system also have ethical responsibilities that they have to uphold not only to the people that are involved in crime but also to society as well. Prison officers and staff are exposed to different kinds of trauma while performing their duties and responsibilities. Their psychological well-being and behavior can be slowly affected. Police officers are exposed to the everyday stress and trauma of police work. Police officers are vulnerable to the risk of suicide with the availability of their firearms. There is a great number of police officers that killed themselves than those who are killed in the line of duty. The police suicide rate has reached over three times more than the suicide rate of the general population in the country. With the passing of time, the police suicide rates have appeared to increase since the beginning of the 1990s. Majority of the police suicides have been intentionally classified in reports as accidents or deaths that were undetermined. Police suicide has an effect on families in terms of insurance benefits. The insurance benefits that were intended for the families will be forfeited once suicide is indicated in the death certificate of the police officer. Fellow officers have the tendency to protect the family members and their own department as well from being exposed to the stigma of suicide. These officers might not reveal all the information to the medical examiners. The actual police suicide reports may be greater than what is being reported. The occurrence of police suicide affects the morale of the department and the entire law enforcement agency. Fellow police officers are left with feelings of remorse and guilt. They also feel that they should have done something that could have prevented the suicide. The department often see police suicide as something that is disgraceful. There is a mix of environment and personality as to the cause of the police suicide. A controversy also surrounds the cause of the issue as to whether the suicide is related to the personality or to the occupational elements that have influenced the decision of the police officers. Factors that are related to the occupation include stress in the workplace, relationship with co-workers, availability of firearms, the use of alcohol and impending retirement. A suicide prevention program will only be successful if all members of the police department will be able to take advantage of the program. Clear messages must be conveyed to all personnel stating that seeking help will not result into termination. The personal information that will be divulged by the police personnel will be kept in a confidential manner. Someone is always available to help the police deal with their emotional problems no matter how hopeless they feel. The first step towards helping officers that are slowly drowning in their emotional troubles is knowing how to identify them. There might be a pattern of activities or behavior. In reality, any member of the police force can succumb to depression that will eventually lead to suicide under any situation. A long trail of evidence and warning signs may lead to the commission of suicide. Majority of the people who have suicidal tendencies, give out some kind of warning of their intentions. If these early signs are detected and taken seriously, this may prevent the person concerned from pushing through with his intention. There are many problems that trouble police officers who are suicidal. Police supervisors should look for warning signs of sadness, frustration, grief, depression, mental and physical illness. The strongest warning sign in terms of behavior is attempting a suicide. The more the attempted suicide proves to be recent, the greater the risk for the officer involved. Training officers should be able to include in its program education about the warning signs of suicide. This should become a regular part of the department's mental health program. Another sign could be when a police officer, fail to perform at the maximum level on the job over a long period of time. This problem may be related to issues on mental health. Depression is a major factor in police suicide. People who are dealing with depression suffer from something deeper. Depression is a disorder in one's mood that can be described as the person's overall disposition. Episodes of depression last for at a period of at least two weeks. It is during this period that the person may experience changes in weight, sleep patterns and reduced physical activity and energy levels. Other behavioral patterns like exhibiting anger should be considered as part of the warning signs. In democratic societies, the law protects the basic and primary values of society. The most important value is the respect for the dignity of human life. It is inherent in all humans no matter what their status is in life (Coyle, 2002). This respect may be difficult to give to those who have broken the law or committed a crime. Prisoners themselves did not respect the value of human dignity when they committed the crimes. The prison staff have a very important role in trying to give that kind of respect to the prisoners detained. The role of the self including behavior and attitude is important because they all affect the way the prison staff and management interact with the prisoners. The most important thing that prison staff needs to keep in mind that their job is like any other job. It must be done well and with respect to the dignity of the human person. Bibliography Banks, C., 2008. Criminal justice ethics: theory and practice Coyle, A., 2002. A Human Rights Approach to Prison Management. http://www.fco.gov.uk/resources/en/pdf/pdf2/fco_pdf_prisonreformhandbook Delattre, E., 2002. Character and cops: ethics in policing Kleinig, J., 2008. Ethics and criminal justice: an introduction Levinson, D., (2002) Encyclopedia of Crime and Punishment Read More