Policy Matters

The often quoted Yogi Berra stated, “In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is.” (To be fair, a multitude of quotes have been attributed to Berra, leading him to exclaim, “I didn’t really say everything I said.”) This observation is particularly appropriate for the community corrections professionals amidst this wave of change. The fact is that we know more about principles than about specific practices. In our third blog about the 5 Ps Pyramid, I discuss Policy, the process that begins to define practices. After all, we talk often about implementing principles, but you do not actually implement concepts, you implement practices. Identifying and articulating practices begins with policies.

 Purpose Driven

Rick Warren’s Christian devotional book, The Purpose Driven Life (2002), has sold over 30 million copies. That is five million more copies than The Great Gatsby (1925) sold. It topped the New York Times bestseller list for an historical length of time. It is the second most translated book in the world, after The Holy Bible. The wild success of this book demonstrates the conclusion from our last post: People crave purpose. Fortunately, community corrections provides purpose aplenty; providing second chances, protecting potential victims, returning parents to their children, allowing offenders to take some financial responsibility for their rehabilitation. 

“The road to hell is paved with good intentions” is a frequent paraphrase of statement written by Saint Bernard of Clairvaus around 1150. While the phrase is taken to mean different things to different people, I find its meaning on consistent display in the human service field, including modern day community corrections. It is often the most passionate among us, the ones who want to save the world and believe they can, that create critically dysfunctional human service agencies. While human service agencies do not have a monopoly on dysfunction, they are uniquely prone to it. With passion and purpose to burn, they take off running. Without the structure and guidance of steady principles they often get lost.

Identifying your Direction

Trivia Question: What is the brightest star in the northern sky? If you answered the North Star you are in good company. Many people incorrectly believe that The North Star is among the brightest stars because it has served as a celestial landmark for navigational purposes for centuries. Given that it barely breaks into the Top 50 of brightest stars, what explains its fame and function?

The North Star, Polaris, resides very close to the North Pole. The North Pole is the point around which the entire northern sky turns. Since other stars in the northern hemisphere essentially rotate around The North Star, it holds nearly still in the dark heavens. When early travelers needed to be oriented, they would locate The North Star. With that as their steady point, they could identify South, East and West.

The CorrectTech team just returned from the American Probation and Parole Association (APPA) summer Institute in New Orleans, Louisiana.  If you have never been to New Orleans, I assure you its passion is unmatched.  Fortunately, there was equal passion in the APPA workshops and exhibit hall.  We left with renewed energy in the importance and purpose of our profession, and empathy for professionals seeking technical assistance with the varied challenges of community corrections.

There is an interesting parallel between walking in the French Quarter and perusing the exhibit hall.  Whether your goal is to find New Orleans' best gumbo or the best software package for your community corrections program, there is no shortage of marketing for your attention.  With so much competition for your business how does a person cut through the sales message to identify what is authentic?

Common Interests

I learned a hard lesson about “community.” I attempted to zone a community corrections facility without building a relationship with the community first. Rookie mistake. The public hearing wasn’t pretty. It is said that when under attack, human nature is to fight, flight or freeze. This community felt attacked and fought. Hard. And won. While I felt pretty battered at the time, it might be the most important lesson I’ve learned as a professional. I realized that until you understand , really understand, what “community” means, you might want to consider a career other than community corrections.