The unsung hero: the community corrections employee. 

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.

This is the 8th 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.

Principle 5a: Establish Structure and Behavioral Accountability

“I am so relieved to be in jail.” I’ve heard hundreds of offenders start an evaluation with this statement. They desperately wanted to get clean. They were motivated and ready to take change seriously. They just could not stop using long enough to create and execute a plan. Unfortunately, with greater emphasis on offender treatment, some tend to believe that structure and behavioral accountability is at best unnecessary and at worst, punitive. 

Structure includes rules, roles, and expectations. Civilized societies are civil and a society due to structure. Many offenders perform perfectly with structure. There are flawless inmates and likeable community corrections clients. While it may be related to neuropsychological deficits, one thing is clear, most offenders need structure. They crave structure but hate it. They know they need it, but resent it. (This is true for me too).

This is the 7th of a 12 part series on Evidence Based Principles.  Subscribe to our blog and get the series delivered right to your inbox.

Principle 4: Skill Train with Directed Practice

Ever wondered why you continue with bad habits even when they serve no purpose other than to create pain? Human nature is frustrating. Sometimes it seems like we are just one big compilation of habits, good and bad. That is partly true.

Most correctional professionals agree that behavioral change starts with acquiring new skills, however we often do a particularly poor job implementing this principle. It is not for a lack of trying. Without a solid foundation in the neuropsychology of habits and behavior change, we typically start with a false assumption. That assumption is that a lack of information is central to the behavior problem. When your assumption of the problem misses the mark, your intervention will too.

Key Takeaways:

• Trust is the bedrock of all effective interventions, paving the way for meaningful and sustainable change.
  
  
• Corrections professionals must prioritize empathy, consistency, and active listening to foster authentic relationships.
  
  
• CorrectTech empowers corrections professionals with tools and insights to build trust and strengthen evidence-based practice.