Peter C. Kratcoski - Correctional Counseling and Treatment

Kent State University, Kent, Ohio, USA

Definitions of Corrections , Counseling, Treatment, and Rehabilitation

The concepts corrections, counseling, treatment, and rehabilitation can assume different meanings, depending on the context in which the terms are being used and the person who is using the terms. In the most general sense, the term correction refers to changing a mistake made by another. For example, a student may correct a professor who provides information on a subject that the student knows to be false, or a newspaper reporter who wrote a story about a person or event before carefully obtaining the facts may later have to retract false information in the story. As with the concept corrections, the term treatment can convey many different meanings. For example, if prison inmates were asked if they were given any treatment, they might think of the times they were intimidated, shunned by other inmates, or harassed by correctional officers. The administrator of a correctional facility might think of treatment in terms of any type of planned activity that is used to maintain security and control of the inmates. Those employed in an institution may have different perceptions of treatment, based on their positions and duties. Correctional workers within the same institution may consider methods used to maintain order and control over the inmates as a form of treatment, while a professional social worker or psychologist is likely to define treatment in terms of specific planned intervention techniques that are used to bring about the desired changes in the behavior of the inmates. In this sense, the treatment is being given by a person who has been trained in administering treatment modalities. The term counseling can also take on a variety of meanings and must be interpreted within a specific context. In a general sense, to counsel is to give advice or to provide some information that will assist the person being counseled in making a decision on working out a problem. A counselor does not have to be professionally trained. For example, a parent giving advice to a child or a friend providing a person some advice on the course of action to take in trying to solve a problem is providing counseling. Within the field of corrections, counseling and treatment are very closely related. Counseling of some type may be employed as one of the treatment modalities used in the correctional process.

Generally, counseling and treatment are not guaranteed as rights to those accused of a criminal offense or those convicted of a criminal offense. However, there are exceptions. For example, a person accused of a crime who is destitute and cannot afford an attorney is guaranteed the right to have appointed counsel . If the accused is suspected of being mentally ill or incompetent, the state must provide a psychologist or psychiatrist to conduct an evaluation to determine if the person has the mental capacity to distinguish between right and wrong. In the examples given above, the counseling and treatment being provided do not specifically focus on the correction of the persons behavior. However, it is important to note that some form of counseling and treatment may be employed throughout the criminal justice process, and, as will be shown in later chapters, even those who are diverted out of the official justice system may be required to engage in some form of counseling and treatment, such as being required to perform community service or engage in drug or alcohol counseling as part of their official sanction .