focus on Bowenian Family Systems?

Correctional Counselling has two main goals and objectives, the first goal is to ensure that an offender does not re-offend, and to reduce the chances of recidivism. All correctional counselling programs and activities are designed to eliminate the chances of recidivism or reduce them. Failure in correctional counselling is measured by increasing chances of recidivism, an opinion which is considered problematic by many because reducing recidivism is collective responsibility of the entire justice system. (Gendreau, Goggin, French, & Smith, 2006; Latessa, Cullen, & Gendreau, 2002).

The second goal of correctional counseling is to help offenders ponder and self-reflect, so that they can overcome their shortcomings through developing more accurate social cognitions and self-governance principles.

Disclosure refers to the agreement between any two parties in a legal setting, where the parties are required to discuss and disclose documents and facts that are required to settle a dispute or remove any misconceptions or misunderstandings in a legal proceeding. Disclosure must be properly dealt with, as it can affect the final outcome and hurt credibility of the entity that has not participated properly. For offenders it’s important to share all details of their life and all aspects of the crime affected to their correctional counsellors under full disclosure.

Every modern organization has their own set of ethical codes, which govern how individuals should act and react in certain situations these are the rules they are expected to live by under any circumstances. Enforcement of ethical rules by private institutions is not mandatory but when it comes to ethics regulations in legal systems, public court rooms and correctional settings, it’s important that all prescribed ethical values are practiced to protect the rights of all involved entities, especially those under trial or consideration (Latessa, E. J., Cullen, F. T., & Gendreau, P. 2002). If a practitioner is found to violate those ethical practices strict legal action should be taken against them for taking advantage of an individual in a tough spot.

It’ is important to educate inmates and offenders about their legal rights so that correctional officers dealing with them can’t manipulate them or pressurize them or take advantage of them while they are in vulnerable positions. Often counsellors try to get work done without actually caring about the outcome for the client, and this leads into offenders landing into situations which makes things even worse for them. To avoid this, it’s important to educate them about their rights and ethical obligations of the counsellors (Minor, W. W. 1981)

Conclusion

Correctional Counselling is a very delicate field and it requires great attention to detail to ensure that nobody is everyone is done right by. To ensure that a set of moral and ethical values are prescribed by legal systems and it is important that they are enforced and not only that but offenders are educated about their rights and these obligations so that top level of justice can be offered to all.

References

· Gendreau, P., Goggin, C., French, S., & Smith, P. (2006). Practicing psychology in correctional

settings. In I. B. Weiner & A. K. Hess

· Minor, W. W. (1981). The neutralization of criminal offense. Criminology, 18, 103–120.

Schrink, J., & Hamm, M. S. (1989). Misconceptions concerning correctional counseling. Journal

of Offender Counseling Services and Rehabilitation, 14, 133–147.

· Latessa, E. J., Cullen, F. T., & Gendreau, P. (2002). Beyond correctional quackery—Professional-

ism and the possibility of effective treatment. Federal Probation, 66, 3–49.