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Safe Behind Bars : Communication, Control, and De-escalation of Mentally Ill & Aggressive Inmates: A Comprehensive Guidebook for Correctional Officers in Jail Settings - Ellis Amdur

Safe Behind Bars

Communication, Control, and De-escalation of Mentally Ill & Aggressive Inmates: A Comprehensive Guidebook for Correctional Officers in Jail Settings

By: Ellis Amdur, Chris De Villeneuve, Michael Blake

Hardcover | 1 May 2019

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Inmates in correctional facilities suffering from psychiatric or substance abuse disorders sometimes display any one of a number of frightening behaviors: verbal outbursts, physical threats and even violence. This comprehensive guidebook offers correctional officers in jail settings strategies to keep themselves and inmates as safe as possible, while functioning at the highest level of professionalism. 

  • The first two sections of the book discuss the environment within jail and in the surrounding community that chronically mentally ill individuals cycle within. 

  • The third section is concerned with threat assessment: the authors offer concrete skills on the development of a safety mindset.

  • In the fourth section, the authors focus on how to achieve a state of integrity and powerful calm. They offer specific strategies, including a method of breathing for the purpose of maintaining one's center in crisis situations. 

  • They then discuss specific behaviors ranging from confusion and obsessive concerns to psychosis, mania and acute disorganization. 

  • In one very important section, they discuss interactions with opportunistic and manipulative inmates, people who present a danger to the psychological and physical well-being of anyone with whom they come in contact. 

  • They then move on to a discussion of aggression, whether directed at the correctional officer or others. There is a specific section set aside on dealing with aggressive youthful offenders. The authors discuss how to de-escalate aggressive and chaotic inmates once a crisis is in play. De-escalation tactics are specific - one learns how to immediately recognize what mode of aggression other person is displaying, and the, one can quickly and effectively implement the de-escalation tactics that are best suited to deal with it.

  • In three essential appendices, they present protocols for physical and chemical restraint, current information on positional and compression asphyxiation (authored by Dr. Gary Vilke), and a protocol, specific to fire and EMS, on excited delirium (authored by Lt. Michael Paulus, ret.)
Industry Reviews

This book should be issued to every person who wishes to work with the incarcerated mentally ill. The authors draw on real world experience that can only be gained "in the trenches". There are numerous examples of interactions with inmates that brought on "a ha" moments with me. The authors encourage compassion for the mentally ill while also focusing on officer safety, legal issues and best practices. This is a book I will refer to again and again, as with all of Ellis's books. The book will teach you how to recognize the most common types of mentally ill inmates and teach you how to communicate with them on a level that they will respond to and understand. I can't recommend this highly enough.  

A must read for all police and law enforcements dept. and M.H.P. Should be in every class room and read by everyone going into the mental health profession.

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