Correctional staff also face related mental and physical harm (such as severe depression, suicide, trauma, moral injury). Prison staff are taught to employ progression, in which people are gradually given more responsibility and freedom as they work hard and become increasingly motivated, and normalization, where punishment is only deprivation of liberty, and prisons resemble life outside to ease the return to their communities. AMEND’s pilot programs have been met with great success. For example, staff at a new North Dakota “supermax” facility act more like educators and social workers, meeting the needs of the highest risk individuals and drawing them out with meaningful activities. Pilot programs in Oregon, California, and Washington also helped residents effectively reintegrate into the community.
Presented by David Cloud, Research Director, AMEND at UCSF, San Francisco, CA and Jerry Buting, moderator, Buting, Williams & Stilling, S.C., Brookfield, WI
