Analysis Of Chapter 11: Managing The External Environment

This week our class was tasked with the assignment of reading and discussing chapter 11 in our test which is entitled managing the external environment. In law enforcement there are several different things inside of the prison that law enforcement officials must deal with like keeping inmates in a safe and humane environment. Some things that are to be managed in the internal environment are kept separately from outside sources. Also when it comes to the internal environment, supervisors must be careful with how they work with lower line staff inside of the correctional facility. While we realize there are internal issues and factors inside of prison, we ,use also not forget that there are external factors in the environment as well. A form …show more content…
The media constantly delivers recent updates about what is going on in society so that citizens and other law enforcement agencies will be informed. We all know that during older times, politicians did not really care or focus on corrections or correctional policy. Law enforcement agencies had to find a way to reach the public in a good way because the media will make the citizens of the world form opinions that could be negative which will lead to negative mindsets. Law enforcement’s main goal is to make citizens feel safe and secure in their own state or city. For this reason, we have seen harsher crime penalties in our judicial system to keep repeat and career criminals off of the street in order to maintain a safe environment. There are several ways that correctional leaders can effectively manage externally like, develop a strategy and message for working with stake holders, educate government leaders, invest time, train agency staff to engage and influence key stakeholders, be honest and non defensive, strive for transparency, invite interested stakeholders to observe correctional processes, and reinforce the overall mission of the agency with the external stake holders (Seiter, 2016, p. 276). First correctional administrators must understand the factors that shape public opinion, they must also fully understand and be involved in the political decision making process. Correctional administrators …show more content…
In older days correctional administrators had no say so and were often times removed from the political aspect of things. However today, this is a different story. If the correctional administration does not confront political realities this can result in public policy not being supported by the experience and judgement of correctional professionals. As I mentioned earlier, tough on crime statutes were enacted that require offenders to serve long mandatory sentences. Politics does in fact influence policy. It was discovered that the relationship between an influence of party politics and state policies, as far as imprisonment rates are concerned (Seiter, 2016, p. 281). Institution administrators should not become involved in the political process. They should be seen as professionals in their respective careers who have a responsibility to implement laws fairly. Sometimes they are called upon to share their expertise in any given situation. There are some who are not advocates of this way however. Others believe that correctional administrators have a duty to be involved in the process and influence policy development. Basically, correctional administrators should influence policy or at least have majority of the say so. As experts, correctional administrators can be involved in the political process is that the facts should drive the policy, also leaders have to sell