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November 2013 Swimming in the Cesspool By Sgt. Chad Leivan 1 It all starts so easy. Just a few moments of discompassion. Nothing major, but a few seconds of irraonal thoughts coupled with the ability to separate the reality of what you are facing from the few random thoughts of meanness. It doesn't happen all at once. You don't disassociate from society in a one quick move. You slowly slip into an area that most will never and can never go to and come back from. You don't think about what is going on, but rather you think about how to handle it with the most tact and get through it with your sanity. A few jokes with others in the field, the ability to think about how death or pain can make it worse or beer. But the ability to think about it in those terms leads you down the road, and discompassion for others is where you end up. You can stop it, you can make it go away and start to feel for others. That is what separates the bad from the good. The sad thing is that so many of the good are starng to not stop it. You stay there longer and longer aſter each incident and you have a harder and harder me leaving the realm of this evil streak that seems to always be looming under the surface. You see the world in terms of what you like to do and how things are messed up and what you could do to help, but it isn't always a posive change you think about to make it beer. Once in the cesspool, it is hard to get out. When you swim in the cess daily for work, it gets harder and harder to get the snk off. When you work every day to make ends meet, and geng into the cesspool is how you do that, at some point you become acclimated. It is just like jumping into a cold pond. It is only cold when you first jump in. You soon don't noce it and just keep swimming and geng out is colder than being in. 1 Sgt. Leivan is a veteran correcons professional of the Missouri Department of Correcons. (Continued on page 2) Swimming in the Cesspool 1 2014 CF2F T4T Florence 6 Training Effecveness—3 7 Staying Well Booklet 10 Inspiraonal Posters 11 DWCO Trainings 12 Quote of the Month 13 Many Thanks 13 INSIDE THIS ISSUE IN MEMORIAM Sgt. John Ollis CO Skye Orozco Acosta 11/13/2013 Arizona Dept. of Correcons Warm wishes to you and yours for a peaceful Thanksgiving season. VOLUME 10, ISSUE 11 VOLUME 10, ISSUE 11

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November 2013

Swimming in the Cesspool

By Sgt. Chad Leivan1

It all starts so easy. Just a few moments of discompassion. Nothing major, but a few seconds of irrational thoughts coupled with the ability to separate the reality of what you are facing from the few random thoughts of meanness. It doesn't happen all at once. You don't disassociate from society in a one quick move. You slowly slip into an area that most will never and can never go to and come back from. You

don't think about what is going on, but rather you think about how to handle it with the most tact and get through it with your sanity. A few jokes with others in the field, the ability to think about how death or pain can make it worse or better. But the ability to think about it in those terms leads you down the road, and discompassion for others is where you end up. You can stop it, you can make it go away and start to feel for others. That is what separates the bad from the good. The sad thing is that so many of the good are starting to not stop it. You stay there longer and longer after each incident and you have a harder and harder time leaving the realm of this evil streak that seems to always be looming under the surface. You see the world in terms of what you like to do and how things are messed up and what you could do to help, but it isn't always a positive change you think about to make it better. Once in the cesspool, it is hard to get out. When you swim in the cess daily for work, it gets harder and harder to get the stink off. When you work every day to make ends meet, and getting into the cesspool is how you do that, at some point you become acclimated. It is just like jumping into a cold pond. It is only cold when you first jump in. You soon don't notice it and just keep swimming and getting out is colder than being in. 1 Sgt. Leivan is a veteran corrections professional of the Missouri Department of Corrections. (Continued on page 2)

Swimming in the Cesspool 1

2014 CF2F T4T Florence 6

Training Effectiveness—3 7

Staying Well Booklet 10

Inspirational Posters 11

DWCO Trainings 12

Quote of the Month 13

Many Thanks 13

I N S I D E T H I S I S SU E

IN MEMORIAM

Sgt. John Ollis CO Skye Orozco Acosta

11/13/2013 Arizona Dept. of Corrections

Warm wishes to you

and yours for a peaceful Thanksgiving

season.

V O L U M E 1 0 , I S S U E 1 1 V O L U M E 1 0 , I S S U E 1 1

Swimming in the Cesspool (Continued from page 1)

Handling it can be accomplished, but not through most conventional ways. You can't just walk away and hope it gets better. You must start handling it from the beginning. Just like the cold pond. Getting out gets easier if you already have a dry warm towel to get into and you must prepare and bring that with you. You have got to start by knowing that only through positive social interactions will you be able to get out of the cesspool. You must start with having positive coping skills, by being active, physically and mentally, and by not taking work home.

Most of the time these issues start with fear. The jobs you do in the cesspool are generally danger-ous and can be life-threatening and at first the front of disconcern comes up to displace the real feelings of fear. You soon learn to control your fear and adrenaline and become accustomed to turning them on and off. Some never conquer their fear and they become addicted to it. Those are not good team members and in a short order can become a liability and risk to everyone around them. Others learn to shut off their fear and adrenaline and never react accordingly to them. They also become a problem and liability. The best ones though learn to use it and draw from it. Fear has a place. It is not all the time, but when necessary it brings a side of caution that you wouldn't and shouldn't normally keep all the time. The increased speed and strength during adrenaline can make a situation better and much smoother, but being able to control both is a start in getting yourself under control. It isn't an easy task, but it can be accomplished. The feelings that arise during an incident or in response to what has just happened cause some to quickly assess that they are not able to handle the cesspool. That isn't a bad thing. In some ways the one that tries and sees that they are not able are just as strong or stronger than the one that stays in the cess-pool. Most don't make it long. The ability to stay in the pool is a mindset that most can't get or keep for long periods of time, but those that do usually have long-term mental conflict from what they have done and seen. Sometimes emotion is a liability in these situations. It isn't that having emotions is wrong, but the ability to become cold and calculating leads to the desired result in some situations. But as a result, losing the ability to have the emotions of compassion and humanism is a very big reality for those who spend too much time without them or with them being a liability. The way to maintain them is by learning when and where to display them and have them, which is not the easiest of tasks. You must understand the nature of human interaction and learn to read people to get the best of them. Some will never have the skills of reading people, some will never be able to shut off emotions. Neither of these issues is a negative. It just proves that some can do this job well and some can't. Most people in general will never jump into the pool. It isn't a highly regarded position that they de-sire, but some have too. You always have to have someone guarding the rest from what can be in the pool. The pool can produce some positive outcomes, but most outcomes are not positive. ( Continued on page 3)

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Swimming in the Cesspool (Continued from page 2)

Some individuals are and always will be in the cess. So you have to have those willing to risk life, limb and mental stability to be in the pool with them. Those that stay too long are more than likely going to exhibit some sort of long-term effect and this should be addressed.

Addressing the issues is not done with self-medication. A lot of long-term professional cesspool swimmers are home self-medicators. Whether it is prescription drugs or alcohol, it is self-medication that is not positive. Too long in the pool also leads to high blood pressure, obesity, heart problems, lung problems, exposure to diseases at a higher rate than normal and much, much more. To address these issues start with acknowledgment of them. Most professionals will brush all but death. They will never admit something bothers them. They may admit they are out of the shape they used to be in, but they don't motivate each other to get back in shape and most don't diligently seek a workout regimen that will facilitate a healthy body. The work schedule kept is part of the problem. Little sleep, inappropriate diet and constant on-call sta-tus keep most off a normal schedule. Unlike some jobs, the cesspool is open 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. It doesn't take holidays or weekends off. In fact it is usually busier on those days and the days leading up to them. It makes having a normal schedule hard. Things are done when they can be, and some are put off to the last minute. Admitting weakness is a strength in and of itself. It proves that not all things can be internalized and fixed that way when it comes to mental health. It also proves that maybe by dealing with the problems out loud that they can get better. Working daily where you will be verbally, and possibly, physically abused and threatened, and your family threatened, and then doing it all over again tomorrow, takes an individual with a strong motivation. Some take these threats and this abuse personally. Those that do generally don't last long in the pool. Some blow them off and forget them. They too deal with them less than effectively. Most of the threats are just verbal manipulation to get what they want, but there are a few that may be real and need to be taken seriously and at face value. The best way to deal with the verbal abuse every day is to treat it like what it is. Words. Verbal abuse is something that divorces can be based on, lawsuits are won on, but they are just part of the job in the pool. Every day the profes-sionals that jump into the cesspool for the sake of the rest of society get verbally abused more in one shift than most will have in their entire life. Taking personally what someone else says about how you look, who you are, what you wear, what you think, is something that must be avoided. If you were really exactly as they described you, you would-n't be willing to do what you do for others and work where loss of limb and life are always a possibility. The games played with verbal abuse and threats are a bully type of game. Those who live in the cesspool think that if they can make you feel inferior you will listen to them. The true professional will not come back with the same type of language toward them, but will remain calm and professional while speaking with them. That can be one of the hardest hurdles to overcome, but it must be overcome. Berating or insulting someone who has just insult-ed you is what you would expect from children on the playground, not from professionals. Threats are a different thing all together. Threats need not be tolerated, and need not followed by threats in return. They should be documented in reports for future reference. Threats of all nature pose a dangerous game of “will they or will they not attempt, at some time, to follow through.” By documenting them you allow yourself the protection of having formal documentation that would justify defense of your persons or family if the situation were to ever arise. By the same token part of the stress of living a life in the cesspool as a professional is being vigilant and not paranoid. That is a fine line. It is completely unrealistic to believe either extreme: that you are ready at all times, or that threats are always just a game. So the stress of protecting yourself at work and knowing that you must protect your family when away from work is a huge psychological distraction and burden of long-term employment, and unnecessary stress when you are off work. (Continued on page 4)

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Swimming in the Cesspool (Continued from page 3)

The cesspool is always looking for another full-time occupant, someone willing to sell out their mo-rality for a quick profit or more powerful position in the pool, and the guardians are just as susceptible as the people who are either stuck there or choose to be there. You must constantly be on guard for the ones wanting to permanently suck you into the cesspool as a participant and not the guardian.

Most guardians know their limitations and are willing to ask for help (usually when they are hugely outside their limits), but it isn't the big steps outside your limitations that get you caught in the pool. The small voids that separate you from your humanness and morality are what make most of the professionals change for the worse. By reading people and seeing that some will never be more than pool junkies, you desensitize yourself and your actions to those who make no effort to get themselves out—and that is where the problems start. Seeing good can be easy, but seeing the potential for good is not so easy. When you start to give in to the dehumanization of others, you are morally corrupting yourself and begin to get the mean streak you can't shut off. There are times when being mean works, but for the most part, mean is just that—mean. It has very little benefit other than immediate satisfaction for the one being mean, and it only hardens the one you are being mean to.

What makes being in the pool worth it is the ability to see the potential for good and to offer guidance to bring someone out of the pool by showing them a side of a person they may not see daily. All people are human and are deserving of decent behavior until they pose a significant threat to you. They deserve decent treatment and the avoidance of bullying at all cost. That doesn't mean that pressuring someone to tell the truth is bullying; it means that getting there should not be done with invalid threats or lies. It also means that finding the human side in most people will get you further and help your mental stability more than bullying. Bullying is something that naturally comes from too much time in the cess. You start using bullying tactics that you see around you, and then they become a lifestyle. You blend work with your social life and begin to bully others outside work. The ability to force your will on others in your social life is easier when you get you way or force your will on others on the job, or when you don't have any way to force your will on others at the job so you do that outside the job. Either way it results in bullying for personal gain, which is the reason for so many divorces or unhappy marriages of those that work in the cess. The cesspool has yet to be formally defined here, for several reasons. The first reason is that the cesspool is different for everyone. What some people consider the cesspool is the same area that most of you live. For some going to Wal-Mart is associating with the cess. Most of these types of people have never had an out of control, threatening confrontation with a perpetrator of a violent nature. For some the cess is what most of us consider the slums or projects, where poverty and violence is the major player and snitches get stitches. These places are the bases of what this is about—where law en-forcement and EMS units are daily called to deal with people who want help with no strings attached to the crime. In these environments the loudest biggest dog wins the fight and bullying is a way of life. (Continued on page 5)

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Swimming in the Cesspool (Continued from page 4)

For others the cess is a prison, where all the perpetrators of a life of crime accumulate and spend their time working out and getting information as to how to be super criminals. These places, like the slums, are ruled by bullying and strength. They also are areas that do not want to have any strings attached to a crime and snitches get what comes to them. Any of these places can be the cess, depending on your perspective, but for the reasons of simplicity, we will rule out the first since most don't see the average person as a perpetrator. The cess are the places that require extra police patrols or require more officers per patrol vehicle to deal with the daily violence associated with the neighborhood. The cess also includes prisons and areas of other countries that require a constant military presence for the preservation of basic human decency. The ones who daily risk their lives to protect those in the above described areas are true heroes, but as with all hard chargers, there is a side effect of long-term interaction in those environments. Mental, physical and psycho-logical changes take place in those who work daily on the edge or in the cess. The families of those in the field are the ones that truly take the brunt of the issues, and the alpha male/female attitude of the people involved causes them to shy away from help. Most of the changes that gradually come on are seen and dealt with amongst family and friends, but their advice is disregarded by the person receiving the advice. It is the family that can offer the most help, but may be the last help sought out and received. Therefore there needs to be a way to account for and take care of the mental and physical well-being of those in that type of work. Those willing to risk their lives for others deserve enough respect to at least have the proper systems in place to make sure that work is work and home is home. There are options, none free, some cheaper than others, but they all will require activity from policy makers and others in the field to be introduced and accepted. The first thing that would help is physical fitness tests and retests to maintain a bare minimum of physical fitness for the job. There also needs to be included a full physical assessment that would determine the total physical health and potentially increase the service life and longevity as a whole for the person working in the cess. This should not be looked at as something that is dreaded by the worker, but as something in which they can show improvement and achievement. These tests should not be pre-scheduled, but random. At least annually, but not the same time every year. Surprise means that the worker must maintain a minimum level of fitness at all times to be able to pass and also means they are more prepared to handle the physical stressors of the job all the time. Psychological monitoring needs to start with pre-employment and be followed up at least annually to monitor the mental health and well-being of the worker. Small changes in attitude should be noted by supervisors and noted in the personnel file for the psychological monitors so that they can see the changes over time. These items need to be confidential and not placed in the personnel file for review by others, unless the changes are unsafe for the worker or fellow workers or may lead to legal implications, at which time they need to be seen and addressed by the highest ranking person and reporting persons only. This area must be approached with caution as to not turn into a harassment situation. The psychological monitors need to set up a system that evaluates the safety and ability to reason as well as check for irrational behavior when things get out of hand. Including high stress items in the test and checking for how the worker functions/responds can predict the outcome of situations that may occur in the cess. The test also needs to be embraced by the higher ranking workers and taken very seriously. Most will see this kind of testing as intrusive and a witch hunt, but it is not that and should not be addressed as that. It should be addressed as a way to help maintain the social ability of the worker to maintain a life of health and normalcy. The test should also include input from the family of the worker and any changes in home life noted. (Continued on page 6)

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Swimming in the Cesspool (Continued from page 5)

The psychological professional should be available at all times for any changing conditions for the worker to address personal or work-related problems to help maintain mental health for the long-term. The psychological professional should be embraced and looked at as a resource to help deal with the stress at work and home, and balancing working in the cess and living without paranoia, anger issues, control issues or any other long-term debili-tating mental problems. To handle the issues as described here will take forward thinking and proactive leadership that should not look at the cost as prohibitive, but as an investment in the long-term continuing service of much needed experienced cess swimmers. The better adjusted the swimmer is in the different areas they swim in—cess and regular life—the longer and better service that can be expected and enjoyed for all. We have not spoken about the financial assistance or benefit packages that should be attached to such jobs. Those topics are for another day. The issues above are addressed from the standpoint of someone who has dealt with these issues and worked in the cesspool for 15 years. I have had and fight daily with control issues, anger issues, discompassion, dehumanization, physical fitness, family problems and more. I have witnessed addiction issues and other problems and still see all of them daily with my fellow swimmers. I know firsthand what happens when issues are ignored by leadership and the morale decrease of having to daily work with mentally unstable coworkers. Having said all of that, the one thing that makes it all worthwhile is the one good day when you help someone who is truly grateful for the help they receive when for months nobody has been grateful.

You don't swim in the cess because you like the smell. You swim in the cess because someone always needs to be pulled out or saved on their worst day and you are there to do it.

Don't ever give up. Stay strong and keep a life preserver handy for those that need it, and you can work in the cess for years and still come out smelling like a rose.

2014 CF2F T4T Dates in Florence, CO

The dates for the 2014 Instructor Trainings at Desert Waters’ offices for the course “From Corrections Fatigue to Fulfillment™” are as follows:

03/25/2014 – 03/28/2014 06/24/2014 – 06/27/2014 09/30/2014 – 10/03/2014.

If you wish to train several trainers, we can also come to your site. And we can offer the one-day CF2F course directly to your staff. Please click HERE for the T4T flyer, and contact us for additional information.

Feedback from CF2F Trainee upon completion of the T4T:

Outstanding job of organizing and summarizing such a complex phenomenon. Staff Wellness is so often an afterthought, when it needs to be a priority. It’s a shame that we spend more time making sure the floor is shiny than we do taking care of our most precious resource—staff. Thank you for what you do. ~ Anonymous

Page 6

Training Effectiveness – Chapter 3 © Gregory Morton, 2009, 2013

A previous, extended version of this concept was published by NIC. It is available at http://ninic.gov/Librry/025226.

Moving Part 4—PARTICIPANT ENGAGEMENT

The fourth moving part of effective correctional training deals with the heart of the matter—the training par-ticipant, and his or her motivation to learn (something new). Effective training systems do not assume that all students recognize the need to learn—either to learn in gen-eral, or to learn about a specific topic. In earlier sections of this article, I commented that adult learners are willful beings. By that we meant that they will choose for themselves the behaviors that they deem to be most useful in their personal work world. As trainers we use multiple motivational devices to enhance the potential for staff to willingly embrace the new behaviors we teach. We already mentioned the value of the Sheriff or Jail Manager introducing the training. This is also why trainers train themselves to be personable, friendly, and affable. In other situations, it may be more moti-vating when we are forceful and demanding. Defensive Tactics trainers use a very basic motivational tool – fear. Fire-arms instructors often use competition as a motivator, as do the Academy coordinators who present an award to the recruit with the highest overall average test score. We build motivational tactics into our lesson plans. An Anticipatory Set is developed for the purpose of sur-facing students’ inherent needs so that they connect with the material to be presented. We speak of “selling the mes-sage.” We conduct ice breakers, play games, and schedule activities and exercises. We “get ‘em up and moving around.” All of this is done for one reason – we want the participant to become a student. We don’t want to just train, we also want the adult to LEARN. Personal motivation, or willingness to learn, is the difference between the participant and the student. Every-one knows the adage, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.” So why do we continue to think that mandating training will make participants “thirsty” for the topic presented, in other words, increase their willing-ness to become a student rather than a mere participant? The concept of Psychological Reactance is relevant here. According to Dr. Jack Brehm (Responses to Loss of Freedom: A Theory of Psychological Reactance, 1972), when people's behavioral choices are threatened or reduced, they become “motivationally aroused.” This arousal then stimulates them to reestablish or restore their threatened freedoms, in other words, to do the opposite of what is being mandated. This motivational state is considered a counterforce, and has therefore been named "psychological reactance" in order to underline the pushback effect thus observed. (Continued on page 8)

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Training Effectiveness – Chapter 3 (Continued from page 7)

Further, according to Brehm, undisguised intentional attempts at changing attitudes can even cause attitude change in the wrong direction. We could call this the “You Will Learn Something Today Because I Say You Will” train-ing model, to which the adult participant quickly responds, “NO, I WON’T!” Wouldn’t we be mortified if we discovered that employees actually did learn in our mandatory training what was expected of them, but because of the manner in which they were “made to drink,” they swore to themselves that they would never be caught dead doing whatever they were taught once they got back to work? Mandatory training should be a different species of training experience altogether. It should never be con-fused with true growth and development opportunities. Mandatory training is appropriately conducted for several specific purposes, such as:

To protect the agency and the employee from liability; To generate documentation; To enforce policy; To set a minimum standard and clarify foundational expectations.

Examples of appropriate mandatory training are when a Respectful Workplace class focuses on Title VII and other legal or policy standards, when an Employee Safety class emphasizes how to fill out an accident report, or when an Offender Supervision class reviews Custodial Sexual Misconduct. Mandatory classes are certainly necessary, but they are also certainly not sufficient. But even in those cases, we should not expect that across-the-board learning will have occurred. Across-the-board recognition and perhaps acceptance are the more likely outcomes of such mandatory training. On some occa-sions and for some topics, that may be enough. But we should not confuse it with motivated learning. I believe that the tendency toward mandatory training exists in correctional agencies for three primary reasons:

1) It’s easy to evaluate (what percent attended); 2) It’s easy to schedule (everybody goes, so everybody gets scheduled); and 3) We are inherently comfortable with mandatory daily schedules.

Unfortunately, the net result is reduced choice for the participant, which is contrary to effective adult learn-ing. When employees are required to attend training that they would not choose for themselves, they are left with only two choices, “Will I pay attention?” and, “Will I apply what is being taught?” This undermines training effective-ness. So yes, we want to create “motivational arousal”, but in a positive, growth-oriented direction. To do so, we need to concentrate on the development of environments that generate a voluntary willingness to learn. Particularly the multi-faceted, extended willingness it takes for our staff to learn something new in training at one location and apply it at work in another location at a later time. The theory known as Four Stages of Learning (origins unknown) also has great relevance for understanding the experience of the individual student. The four stages of learning are:

(Continued on page 9)

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Training Effectiveness – Chapter 3 (Continued from page 8)

Unconscious Incompetence (I don’t know what I don’t know);

Conscious Incompetence (I do know what I don’t know);

Conscious Competence (I am consciously aware that I have learned something new); and

Unconscious Competence (New skills have become my standard practice). Again, the reader is urged to recognize the influence of participant willfulness in these stages. Consider the outlook of a veteran correctional employee, dealing with all the day-to-day struggles and challenges that the job entails. How does that employee react to being told that she has to attend mandatory training on, for example, the new Evidence-Based Offender Supervision model that has been selected for her, implying that her skill set is at Stage One, Unconscious Incompetence? Is this employee likely to see this mandatory training as relevant to herself, given all of the successful work days she has experienced over her career up until now? What does it do to her intrinsic motivation to be told implicitly that she’s now incompetent at a job she’s been doing for years? What if it merely locks her into a Stage One internal argument about her competence versus yours that reduces any learning potential whatsoever? But if I discover my incompetence on my own, in a non-threatening way and in a voluntary environment, that’s a different story. Such a discovery of recognizing what I don’t know can be powerfully motivating. In this way, unlocking Stage One and breaking into Stage Two is the key to further learning. Conscious Incompetence is an inherently anxiety-producing place to live. Once students have recognized their limitations, their personal motivation to improve takes over. No one likes to stay at Conscious Incompetence. Most of us, if not all of us, strive to overcome this stage. What we trainers fail to take sufficiently into consideration is how much trial and error it takes for one person—let alone an entire class—to move beyond Stage Two through Stage Three to Stage Four. Adult Learning research indicates that learning is longest lasting (Stage Four) when the student has had the opportunity for multiple attempts (in Stages Two and Three) at Trial and Failure, eventually leading to Trial and Success. (This can sometimes be followed by Trial and Failure again. “Repeat as needed” is the rule.) The training process can be quick. The Adult Learning process, though, can be quite lengthy. Beyond a couple of role plays at most, how much practice do we correctional trainers build into our training modules? Given the limited time resources we have, probably not enough. Can you imagine a School of Education giving a student teaching assignment at an elementary school that takes place only on one day or one week? What if only a few of the student teachers in the class are required to actually practice the job while everyone else just observes? Repeated physical training is the model we have proposed and will continue to encourage. The amount of practice needed to move from Stage Two (discomfort and anxiety) to Stage Three (conscious awareness) and then to Stage Four (my new standard practice) can be achieved only when we apply the physical training model to other traditionally non-physical training subjects.

(Continued on page 10)

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Training Effectiveness – Chapter 3 (Continued from page 9)

How else but through sufficient practice can the student develop the skills necessary to deal successfully with the complex and difficult challenges of corrections work? An employee may need to manage a variety of types of mentally ill offenders, or fully protect himself from multiple offender manipulation tactics, or write several different types of required reports, or supervise a 12-inmate work crew in the community, or conduct a single officer/agent home visit, or verbally diffuse a gang argument, or conduct an investigation, or find contraband on a visitor, or hold a classification interview, or recognize a staged distraction—to name just ten. These are all technical skills that require practice to perform well. As a training colleague of mine, Paul Peloquin who retired from the Oregon DOC, recently wrote: “[T]he term ‘hard skills’ has been used in the past to describe a technical skill specific to a profession. Examples for an accountant would be how to compose a Balance Sheet; for a carpenter it would be how to plumb a wall. ‘Soft skills’ generally refer to 'people' skills that cross professional boundaries. The issue we have in corrections is that soft skills ARE our hard skills! Sure, a CO still needs to know how to apply belly chains, but the vast majority of our technical, professional work is how to effectively relate to and communicate with offenders ... . We do this technical, 'hard' skill using appropriate 'soft' skill techniques or we fail. For a corrections professional, the ‘soft’ skill of appropriate interaction becomes our technical, professional 'hard' skill.” The ironic part of this issue is that correctional tradition already recognizes what we are suggesting. It is just that veteran employees experience their “practice” sessions while on the job, usually on their own, un-coached, where mission, safety and performance are all affected—rather than in training, where the positive learning experience can be structured and the employee guided from anxiety to habit. Next month, more on the role that practice sessions play in motivating training participants to become learners.

Staying Well Booklet The booklet Staying Well: Strategies for Corrections Staff has proved to be a helpful tool for corrections staff at various stages of their careers, and also for their family members. It provides staff and families with understanding and language regarding the impact of the work on individuals and families, and it suggests ways for staff to enhance their well-being. We thank Dr. Karen Swanson and BGC for the recent third reprinting of the booklet.

Feedback about Staying Well Reprinted with permission.

This a great booklet. I have experienced some of the things you talk about in the book. I have sometimes felt that my wife and family members could not relate to what I went through at work, and I felt only my co-workers could relate, so I found myself getting closer to my female co-workers. My wife and I divorced, but we have found our way back to each other, and for that I am thankful. I am a 19&1/2 veteran of the _________Detention Center and what I find in this job is that you have to be yourself, be true to yourself, and always try to stay above the fray, try to maintain an even keel. ~ Anonymous Detention Officer

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Page 11

Inspirational Posters

These three inspirational 11”x17” laminated posters are intended to remind staff of principles that promote Corrections Fulfillment—the ABC’s of Self-care, the Big 7 Needs, and Positive Climate Promoters. Sold mostly as packets of three, they are designed to be placed in strategic staff areas, such as offices and break rooms, to help staff remember the basics of self-care and ways to promote a positive workplace climate. We are deeply grateful for the creative and beautiful graphics and layout of Elizabeth Gamache of www.landsharkdesign.com. You can place your order on Desert Waters’ site through Paypal. You can also call us at 719-784-4727 with your credit card information, or send a check to DWCO, PO Box 355, Florence, CO 81226-0355 for the appropriate amount for the number of poster sets you are ordering. Purchase orders are also accepted.

PRICING FOR SETS OF THREE POSTERS* 1 set: $21.00 2 sets: $42.00 3 sets: $60.00 4 sets: $78.00 5 sets: $94.00 6 sets: $109.00 7 sets: $124.00 8 sets: $138.00 9 sets: $150.00 10 sets: $162.00

*Prices include Shipping & Handling costs.

DWCO Trainings & Presentations since June 2013

June 11, Ocean City, MD—Introduction to the course From Corrections Fatigue to Fulfillment™,

Middle Atlantic States Correctional Association Conference.

June 25-28, Florence, CO–T4T From Corrections Fatigue to Fulfillment™.

July 29, West Crozier, VA—From Fatigue to Empowerment. Tenth Annual Counselors Training

Institute, Academy for Staff Development, Virginia Department of Corrections.

September 11, Wisconsin Dells, WI—DWCO’s Services. West Central Wardens and Superinten-

dents Association.

September 16, Aurora, CO—An Introduction to Corrections Fatigue, Large Jail Network, National

Institute of Corrections Learning Center.

September 23, Wisconsin Dells, WI—Keynote: Finding and Holding onto Meaning in Corrections,

and workshops: An Introduction to Corrections Fatigue, and Resilience Factors, Wisconsin Correc-

tional Association.

September 27, Kingston, Ontario, Canada—Understanding Critical Incidents, EAP/CISM Training.

October 1-4, Florence, CO–T4T From Corrections Fatigue to Fulfillment™.

October 15, Ruidoso, NM—An Introduction to Corrections Fatigue. New Mexico Jail Association

Conference.

October 22, Salt Lake City, UT—Reaching for Resilience. International Association of Correctional

Training Professionals.

October 28, Colorado Springs, CO—Understanding and Countering Corrections Fatigue. Interna-

tional Corrections and Prison Association 15th AGM and Conference.

November 8, Atlantic City, NJ—PTSD and Depression in U.S. Corrections Professionals: Challeng-

es and Solutions. American Correctional Officer, Medal of Honor Convention.

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Caterina Spinaris Tudor, Ph.D. Executive Director

431 E. Main Street, P.O. Box 355 Florence, CO 81226

(719) 784-4727

FEIN 30-0151345

[email protected]

WWW.DESERTWATERS.COM

Your contributions are tax-deductible.

http://desertwaters.com/?page_id=2237

Your tax-deductible contributions make it possible for us to conduct research in corrections staff wellness, design and test interventions to increase staff wellness, develop train-ing materials, provide the Correctional Oasis monthly, and offer the 24/7 Corrections Ventline at no charge. Individual donors: Anonymous donors, TC & Joellen Brown, CCC donors, Jeff & Connie Mueller, Kevin & Robin Rivard, David & Amy Stephens. In Memory of CO Robert Pyott: AFGE, AFL-CIO 2nd New Brunswick, NJ; Steven & Carol Custer; John R. Peluso Jr.; Cheryl Rheiner.

Business donors: Janice Graham, CPA; Elizabeth Gamache, Landshark Design. Special thanks also go to: David Berkebile, Jason Bloom, Mike Bridwell, Fraser Bryans, Maureen Buell, John Cherna-vage, Chris Cook, Brian Dawe, Todd Eagen, Corrin Hogan, Susan Jones, Gary Lightman, Katy Clark Potpinko, John Shartle, Robert Storm, Mike Van Patten, Roy Pinto, Matthew von Hobe, Tim Walsh, Cynthia Kouris-Wilkerson.

To increase the occupational,

personal and family well-being of

staff of all disciplines within the

corrections profession.

Meanings are not determined

by situations,

but we determine ourselves

by the meanings we give to

situations.

~ Alfred Adler