ON-THE-JOB-DECISION-MAKING

Direct Supervision Jails
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Direct supervision in jails began when psychologists, architects, and jail administrators joined efforts in an attempt to understand how correction facilities influenced human behavior. Direct supervision is focused on active inmate behavior management to ensure a safe and secure jail environment for staff, visitors, and inmates. Direct supervision uses a management technique that prevents negative behavior while at the same time encouraging positive behavior. The architectural design supports management and control of inmate behavior because there are no barriers between inmates and staff. Problems are also able to be identified at early stages. Direct supervision has been able to address a number of problems faced by the previous form of jail administration (National Institute of Corrections, 2017)
One of the problems addressed by direct supervision is inmate control. With an officer being present among the inmates all the time, there is direct control of privileges, provision of leadership and setting of standards. This way inmates will not gather in large groups, and any troublemaker will immediately be isolated from the rest. Direct supervision has also addressed tension and violence. Fights are broken up quickly, and weapons are confiscated in time. There are no sexual assaults and gangs are managed. Danger zones such as shower areas are now safe due to constant supervision (Wener, Frazier, & Farbstein, 1993).

There is noise control in the direct supervision. This is enabled by the design architecture and the presence of officers in open areas. Staff morale is also increased. Officers have the authority to solve problems hence learn some leadership skills and gain experience that will enable them to make informed decisions in the future. Active interaction with inmates make the job easier for officers since they will have no fear of assault hence they will be able to pay more attention to their job. There is also controlled movement in direct supervision jails. There is better information access in the new jails. Officers are provided with telephones and printouts of inmate information. They way, there is a better response to inmate’s questions and problems. There is also use of privileges by staff members in order to control inmate behavior. The direct supervision jails, though more expensive to construct, have been noted to have a cheaper maintenance cost (Wener, 2006).
References
National Institute of Corrections. (2017, November 02). Direct Supervision Jails. Retrieved February 24, 2018, from https://nicic.gov/direct-supervision-jails.
Wener, R., Frazier, F. W., & Farbstein, J. (1993). Direct supervision of correctional institutions. National Institute of Corrections (Ed.), Podular, direct supervision jails, 1-8.
Wener, R. (2006). Effectiveness of the direct supervision system of correctional design and management: A review of the literature. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 33(3), 392-410.