Reference no: EM132656263

Assignment: Scenario: The discussion assignment provides a forum for discussing relevant topics for this week on the basis of the course competencies covered.

For this assignment, make sure you post your initial response to the Discussion Area by the due date assigned.

To support your work, use your course and text readings and also use the South University Online Library. As in all assignments, cite your sources in your work and provide references for the citations in APA format.

Start reviewing and responding to the postings of your classmates as early in the week as possible. Respond to at least two of your classmates' initial postings. Participate in the discussion by asking a question, providing a statement of clarification, providing a point of view with a rationale, challenging an aspect of the discussion, or indicating a relationship between two or more lines of reasoning in the discussion. Cite sources in your responses to other classmates. Complete your participation for this assignment by the end of the week.

Scenario: You have received a position that requires you to oversee a group of 30 correctional officers. This job will be challenging, because these officers are noted for holding negative, and sometimes even hostile, attitudes toward the institution's leadership, as well as the prisoners they oversee.

Your job is to try to create a better rapport between the officers and prisoners in an attempt to ensure better behavior from the prisoners as a whole. The facility is designed to hold 1,200 male inmates, but it currently houses 1,376. Most are classified as medium security, though there is a minimum-security dormitory that is used to reward good behavior. You have been assigned to oversee one of the three minimum-security units. It houses 345 inmates in a space designed to hold 275. All indoor recreation areas have been converted into makeshift dormitories, and portable toilets have recently been installed in the only accessible exercise yard.

The prison that you have been assigned to has also received many complaints of abuse from prisoners, and you are directed to correct this problem with the officers. These complaints range from relatively minor issues, such as failure to distribute mail in a timely manner, to serious violations, including deliberate denial of access to daily meals. The unit is currently down six officers, which has disrupted shift schedules, and the administration recently increased mandatory overtime and announced suspension of all vacation and personal leave until further notice. The CO shortage has also made it difficult to move inmates for meals, medical care, visitation, and classes. Officers have also complained that they are not getting breaks and that they do not have the opportunity to eat, go to the bathroom, or sit down, sometimes for an entire 12-hour shift.

• What challenges do you foresee in overseeing the correctional officers? Why? How can you apply the principles of the path-goal theory to ensure the success of the task entrusted to you?

• How will you use supportive and directive leadership to motivate the correctional officers assigned to you?

• Can you apply the situational leadership theory to improve the relationship with your officers? If yes, how? If not, then why? Can situational leadership be applied to the inmates?

• How can participative and achievement-oriented leadership motivate these officers? Can it be used to motivate the inmates?

• What are the situational variables that might affect the application of the path-goal theory of leadership?

Support your responses with adequate research and supporting data. Review and comment on the submissions of at least two of your classmates by the end of the week.

Cite any sources using APA format on a separate page. Let's learn how to cite sources using APA guidelines.