The art of manipulation

Article Tools Print This Page | Comments(2) | Suggest a Story

By Tracy E. Barnhart

Published: 04/23/2007

Editor's note Tracy Barnhart offers tips on combating offender manipulation in his new Corrections.com monthly column “Mission:Success.”

Mission:Success - The art of manipulation
by Tracy Barnhart

Before I started working behind the fence I always thought of youth manipulations as my three-year-old twins throwing a fit in the grocery store in order to get a sucker. Or my fifteen- year-old daughter crying and relentlessly demanding that I answer the question “why” she cannot go to the basketball game. Well, as it turns out this is all a form of manipulation, and by giving into their tantrums I was teaching them from an early age that manipulation is an effective tool in getting what they want. So it should not have surprised me when I started to work in juvenile corrections that the incarcerated teenagers were very adept at the art of manipulations.

Now that we know that manipulation is a common way of life and a normal human behavior within our society, the question is “how do we combat it within the correctional environment?” Manipulation skills are probably the most important developmental skills any individual can possess, as we all utilize these skills as a consistent part of communicating with each other.

As adults, we might attempt to manipulate our supervisors to approve a leave request, or to give us a much deserved salary increase or easier job post. Everyone does it. But understanding it can help us prevent it and reduce how it affects us.

Manipulation is a set of behaviors people use to:

Get what they want from others when the others are not willing initially to give in;

Be dishonest and get people to do or act in a way that they might not have freely chosen on their own;

Create a false reality that inmates want others to believe is true;

Maintain power and control even though others, like COs, think they have the control and power;

Avoid not doing the necessary things to meet their obligations, responsibilities and duties in life;

Attempt to make others feel guilty for their criminal actions and thoughts.

The following behaviors and actions can be added when this manipulation pertains to teenage juvenile offenders:

An argumentative and escalated voice volume with repetitive lines of questioning or demands;

No clear demarcation of right and wrong, good or bad, but rather shades of grey or degrees of good and bad;

Arguing or questioning for the sake of arguing or questioning.

Corrections officers must understand the importance of eliminating emotionally charged reactions and leave personality out of the interaction. Arguing inadvertently teaches teens about the art of manipulation. In fact, it can be a clear threat to your authority, power and control. You could give inmates enough strength, power and confidence to attempt to manipulate and victimization other staff. Correctional officers must never lose credibility as an authority figure or they will become ineffective. Remember to never become too friendly and never foster a close relationship with individuals in your charge.

Youthful offenders are not as ignorant as we believe them to be. They have been involved extensively with the criminal justice system throughout their criminal careers so they may know more than we do in certain areas. In their art of manipulation they will seek out the weaker, less hardened and potentially rule-bending staff.

These characteristics define staff who are generally quiet, timid and seek to avoid conflict. They are very trusting, naive and often lack professionalism, and may even be ostracized or disliked by other staff members.

They may have an honest desire to listen to inmate problems and to help. They will find it difficult to say “no” and will not be able to take command during a stressful situation. But, most inmates cannot handle the word “no.” It's like a foreign language to them.

Once teen offenders have located this type of staff member, they will immediately start to prey on their emotions and apply slow, steady pressure over time until they give into the manipulation. They will test to see if small rule violations will be allowed to go unchecked. Inmates may make sexual comments to staff to see what they will be open to or will not allow in a conversation.

Inmates will generally spend a lot of time seeking out weaker staff lacking the experience and understanding of the inmate subculture. Their persistence can be unrelenting and overbearing, and they will pester long enough until staff give in just to get rid of them. They may attempt to befriend you so you feel a sense of kinship to them, or try to deceive and bewilder you into making mistakes and procedural errors. They may even intimidate or coerce you into doing things for them out of fear.

This process of manipulation is endless, but experience is the best teacher when it comes to recognizing these tactics. You can avoid being manipulated by adhering to the following rules while you are behind the fence:

Be an active part of your correctional team;

Be suspicious, question and verify every inmate action or request;

Follow institutional rules, policies, and procedures;

Monitor and document remarks, gestures and actions;

Communicate openly and often with supervisors and other employees;

Know your job and get further education;

Learn to say “No” and when you say, “No”, it's “No” now, “No” later and “No” forever;

Never give or take anything to or from an inmate, no matter how trivial;

Do not relay personal information, problems or feelings to inmates;

Always be cautious and tactically ready when dealing with offenders;

Address inmates appropriately- they are not your friends;

Take action early if you feel that you have been targeted for manipulation;

and finally, never give one particular inmate power or special privileges over another.

Tracy E. Barnhart is a Marine combat veteran of Desert Storm / Desert Shield and upon leaving the Marines in 1992 he became a police officer with the City of Galion, Ohio. Barnhart was the youngest officer to attain the rank of Staff Lieutenant and established a productive community oriented policing program.

He left Galion to become Chief of Police for the Village of Edison, Ohio where he continued his effective community education programs. He attained his Ohio Peace Officers Training Commission as a unit instructor teaching several law enforcement and correctional courses at the state academy.

In 2000, Barnhart began a career with the Ohio Department of Youth Services in juvenile corrections at the Marion Juvenile Corrections Facility. This maximum security male correctional facility houses more than 320 offenders and has more than thirty six beds available for super maximum security lock down. Barnhart works with male felony offenders ages 16 to 21 with violent criminal convictions and aggressive natures.

Comments:

Login to let us know what you think

MARKETPLACE search vendors | advanced search