Correctional Casework & Counseling
The analysis of this group of five members reveals that they are at the transitional stage of rehabilitation. This is because they have voluntarily offered themselves for a counseling process. Being at the transitional stage, the greatest concern in this case is candidates’ consent to the program and the effective adoption of the counseling process. “It is sometimes hard for inmates to accept any training program” (Voorhis, 2011). The main issues with these group members is that they originate from diverse backgrounds, hence getting them to appreciate one another may prove difficult. Effective management of this group will require the counselor to seek an equilibrium point where all group members can appreciate one another in order to effectively run the counseling process. Since members have differing release dates, the counselor has to structure the counseling schedule in such a way that it can wholly benefit those who will leave earlier than others and those who will be left in jail.
- Define the group. How will you structure it? What will be its purpose? How long will it run? Provide a rationale for these decisions
The group can be defined as a number of inmate rehabilitation members that is subjected to correctional counseling procedure. The group will be structured based on based on the specific needs that each of the inmate candidates will have since each inmate has specific needs and challenges. The program will run between twelve and eighteen months. Each structure will consist four stages, which include group counseling to work on issues of recovery, recovery maintenance and relapse prevention, orientation to establish routines and acquaint inmates with rules of the counseling process, and Reentry planning (Voorhis, 2011). The inmates need to be exposed to various recovery strategies after long period of jail. This will require a considerable long time, which is more than one year in order to assist the inmates in fully recovering.
- In the initial meeting, your first task will be to educate the participants about the group purpose. What will you tell them in this orientation, and how will you explain what is going to happen?
Orientation will provide a platform to introduce the group to the exercise. The counselor will explain to them that the process is about the counseling and recovery program. Additionally, the counselor will inform them that the program will take twelve to eighteen months in order to psychologically prepare them for the entire process.
- What rules will you establish for this group? List at least 5 ground rules. How will you establish them?
The following are the rules that I will establish with the candidates, as their counselor and a leader of the group.
- It will be necessary to follow the protocol and established set of rules.
- The client must inform the counselor of any medication, in order for the counselor to assess any possible changes in the client’s physiological setting.
- Communication between the client and the counselor will be maintained on a professional level and platform.
- The candidates will at all times adhere to the correctional facility’s rules and regulations at all time, as they undertake their rehabilitation process.
- The candidate, counselor and the correctional center will work together at all time, for the wellness of the candidates and the success of the rehabilitation exercise.
- What conflicts might you expect from the makeup of this group?
Hasner, Mire and Braddock (2011) developed Four Stages of Group Therapy. According to this model, the most probable conflict that might be experienced from the group is based on the fact that each of the candidates has their own specific needs based on their addictions, as well as their psychological conditions. Consequently, having them work together as a group might present itself as a challenge, since there are possible cases of incompatibility, leading to team incompatibility. Members of the group have to become familiar with the environment and establish firm foundations before developing trust among them. This will guarantee development of group cohesion.
Hasner, Mire and Braddock (2011) has addressed this challenge in Correctional Counseling as one of the challenges of group counseling. In such a case, considering the fact that Jake S. is a timid person and more introverted, the best way to address the problem and include him in the group is trying to work through a way such that each of the persons will be directly involved in contributing to specific exercises. For example, it will be ideal to ask them questions that will make them interact, directing questions and opinions to Jake S. from time to time. This will consequently re-absorb him back into the group.
Considering that the biography presents Sammy G. as a person of sarcastic nature and an extrovert, it will be necessary to indirectly show him the necessity for teamwork and giving time to others to air their opinions. This can be achieved through various means, such as giving the group real-life cases and scenarios addressing the same, as well as the repercussions that arose from the same.
- Describe your role in the group. Be specific.
My role in the group is direct leadership and guidance of the candidates, based on each of the candidates’ specific needs. Being the leader of the team has several roles and duties, which in this case, include ensuring that all the guidelines, principles and protocol that entail effectively implementing the rehabilitation process, as well as any other activities that are related to effectively achieving the set goals and objectives of the entire process.
- Assuming the group reaches the final session successfully, what will you say or do to terminate the group in a constructive way?
The best way to terminate the group after it successfully achieves the set purpose and goal is to develop it into a network through which the candidates will have positions in the correction facility, whereby, they will assist other inmates with the same challenges that they had prior to their joining of the group. This will not only successfully disband the group, but also make sure that they address the same challenges that the other inmates are going through, by assisting and attempting to assist them, as well. This will have positive impacts on the candidates, as well as the inmates and the correction facility, at large. This is the main role and reason why counseling is established in such facilities, since it plays a role in not only assisting the candidates, but also changing the system upon which the correction facility operates on, by inducing a strategy that will ensure that the candidates do not only change in the present, but also in the future, by also changing the system under which the correctional facility is ran.
References
Hasner, R. D., Mire, S. M., & Braddock, A. (2011). Correctional counseling. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, pp. 290-23.
Voorhis, P., V. (2013). Correctional Counseling and Rehabilitation. 8th ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, pp. 95.
