Counseling in Prisons

Counseling Prisoners: Ethical Issues, Dilemmas, and Cautions

“…Because of the diversity and magnitude of the problems encountered in prison environments, counselors often function in interrelated roles, assessing and treating prisoners, training prison staff, and serving as human relations or research consultants to prison administrators (Whiteley & Hosford, 1983). But diverse prison roles for counselors may lead to difficult ethical and therapeutic dilemmas and may necessitate immediate ethical and therapeutic decision making.…”

“…Programs to rehabilitate offenders through prison counseling and vocational education classes (Bennett, Rosenbaum, & McCullough, 1978;Hosford & Moss, 1975) have been intense and widespread but have recently been deemphasized (Geis, 1983). These efforts have resulted in counselors performing multiple roles such as assessment, treatment, training, consultation, and research (Brodsky, 1973;Whiteley & Hosford, 1983). The dominant control and security philosophies of most prisons, however, continue to pose recurrent ethical dilemmas for counselors whose commitments to concepts of trust and individual choice often collide with prison policies and practices that emphasize control, security, and conformity (Binder, 1983).…”

“Your Secrets Are Safe with me”: Opening Prison Counseling

“…Because the debate regarding whether treatment programs provided to inmates work and reduce recidivism rates has raged, some researchers try to prove that prison counseling could help stop criminals from reoffending (e.g. Fox, 1954;Whiteley & Hosford, 1983;Durcan, 2008;Correia, 2009). In Durcan's opinion (2008), mental health services offered to inmates could make a difference to their lives, for it could help them feel more confident about their future.…”

Dilemma of Empowerment: Responsibility Attribution in Prison Counseling

“…A lot of researches have identified, developed and improved counseling programs conducted in correctional institutions (e.g., Masters, 2004;Sun, 2008;Zhang, 2007;Wu, 2010). Quantitative approaches have been employed to prove the causal relationship between counseling sessions and the reduction of recidivism rates (e.g., Whiteley & Hosford, 1983;Durcan, 2008； Correia, 2009Ma et al, 2007). China has about 1.5 to 1.6 million inmates held in about 700 prisons.…”