“I don’t get a candy bar every time I do my job, why should a client get something for doing what they are already supposed to do?”  Have you ever thought or heard something like this when discussing positive reinforcement with clients in community corrections?  When research shows positive reinforcement is more effective in long term behavior change, why is it that we tend to default to punish only?  

In my experience managing clients, managing staff, being a mother, wife, mentor and coach, I can attest that it can be easier to sigh, moan and complain about the performance of others.  Every time I find myself pulling out my hair, I realize I haven’t been using one of my best tools, positive reinforcement.  And guess what, when I start using it (or increase my use of it), I see improvement and I feel happier. It is all too easy to only notice what is going wrong and completely pay no attention to what is going right.

Let me offer some tips for success when implementing a positive reinforcement program in your agency.

What a powerful statement made by Dr. Ed Latessa while speaking about what works and doesn’t work in reducing recidivism at the OCCA conference in May of 2018. Of course, you need referees in a game and metaphorically when running a community corrections program. We must play by and enforce the rules, but coaches win games and make their players successful. Community corrections does need staff that “blow the whistle” when clients go out of bounds, give appropriate consequences and redirection, but that alone only keeps people in bounds during the game, it doesn’t teach them how to improve their skills and improve long term. In my experience, Dr. Latessa is dead on.  Staff naturally gravitate towards being the rule enforcer rather than the encourager. Getting staff to take on coach as their primary role is something that can’t just be trained, it must be immersed in the daily culture of the program. 

This is the 9th of a 12 part series on Evidence Based Principles.  Subscribe to our blog and get this series and the upcoming Risk Principle Simplified series delivered right to your inbox.

Key Takeaways

• Positive reinforcement is one of the most effective tools for shaping long-term prosocial behavior in community corrections.
• Research shows that reinforcement should significantly outweigh punishment to drive real behavior change.
• When tracked and applied consistently, positive reinforcement improves engagement, compliance, and staff-client relationships.

Positive reinforcement is not about being lenient or ignoring accountability. It is about intentionally recognizing prosocial behavior, actions that reflect responsibility, effort, and progress, and using that recognition to reinforce change. When applied correctly, positive reinforcement strengthens motivation, builds trust, and encourages long-term behavioral growth.

At CorrectTech, positive reinforcement is treated as a foundational component of evidence-based community corrections. Through structured behavior management tools and data-driven insights, CorrectTech helps agencies track, measure, and apply reinforcement consistently, ensuring that “catching people doing right” becomes part of daily supervision, not an afterthought.