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                                    Resources
                                    Resources By Area of Practice
                                    Topics In Corrections
                                    Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility

      

                    
          
    Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility
**Welcome to the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Portal.**

Achieving a work environment that adheres to the principals of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) is quickly becoming the number one challenge of most employers both in private and public sectors. With current demographic forecasts predicting that most work teams will comprise members of different racial and religious backgrounds, sexual orientations and identities, education, and socioeconomic and political affiliations; it will demand that employees have the opportunity to express these variables.

Applicants and employees are holding employers accountable for their diversity and value statements.  Gone are the days of being able to say one thing on a job announcement and not have those values reflected in the workplace. Employers who want to attract the best must ensure their enacted values match their stated values.  New innovative strategies must be introduced to create and maintain a work environment that encourages staff to be their best authentic selves.  Leadership must embrace new trains of thought that center around the purposeful intertwining of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility.

Having the right people in the right positions doing the right thing is just the beginning. In a work environment where diversity is valued, individuals in work teams must feel comfortable to (1) to speak up (psychological safety), (2) work together (collaboration), and (3) give everyone a voice even when they don’t agree (being respectful).

**We Value Psychological Safety:**  Safety and security in corrections is the blueprint to conducting our core business practices. Whether in a boardroom, day room, or probation and parole office, corrections staff must feel secure in the knowing they are a valued members of the team.  This mindset will motivate corrections staff to watch out and care for each other, the facility, individuals in custody, and the community.  Every aspect of a corrections system, from the creation of policy to pat searches, requires focused attention to detail without the distraction of having staff who believe they don’t matter or that their work doesn’t make a difference.

**We Collaborate:** Employee engagement is key for a work team to be successful in carrying out the mission, goals, and vision of an agency. When staff feel valued, they will get involved.  They will engage by offering solutions to create a better workforce. The connection they feel between being safe and sharing ideas will lead to more productive discussions on how best to get a job done. Having employees feel like part of the team also reduces turnover and work dissatisfaction.  Most employees aren’t looking to leave a workplace they believe they contribute to.

**We Are Respectful:** When employees feel respected, they will take risks and share their ideas to change the workplace.  Safety and collaboration are the catalysts for staff to be authentic and bring their whole selves and passion to the work. When respect is the cornerstone, employees navigate through conflict fluidly and see an opportunity for growth. It is what gets teams to examine issues, tackle them head on,  and get viable solutions to hard problems.

This portal has been created to support individual and organizational growth.

Individually, you can take the opportunity to look honestly at what shapes the way you see people.
	Organizationally, the portal gives you the chance to reshape the foundation of your organization's culture by helping you examine bias, lead diverse teams, stand for racial and social justice, support inclusive teams, and explore tips on how to create DEIA programs at work.Done well, a DEIA program will be the heartbeat for a culture of respect, safety, productivity, and efficiency.  This is the type of environment needed for all workplaces and especially within the correctional system.

We hope the resources on this site will help you build the work culture you want to be part of and can flourish within.

    Resource Links
          What’s Your Eye Chart Saying? How Our Beliefs Filter Our Views
          Racial Disparities and Dynamics in the Criminal Justice System NIC Hot Topic
                   Topic Categories and Resources
The following grey bars are accordions that can be expanded to show a list of "top-shelf" resources that have been hand-picked by our library team around this topic. If you would like additional research assistance on this topic, please contact our help desk. They have access to specialized databases and thousands of resources you won't find online. Click on a grey box below to browse resources in that section.
            
      Accordion    Bias in the Workplace
      
            Bias is something we all have, and by itself, it is neither good nor bad. It is a conscious or unconscious judgment we make based on information we have learned from our own experiences or by what we have been taught by others. Bias includes the attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, perceptions, and decisions.

Unconscious bias refers to a bias that we are unaware of and that happens outside of our control. It is a bias that happens automatically and is triggered by our brain making quick decisions from data it gathers and then adds meaning to. Bias can come into play about anything, including individuals, groups of people, companies, and even sports teams, that we think are the “best.” The effect of unconscious bias means that we may act a certain way towards people or circumstances without realizing it.

Although people may think conscious bias is worse because it is a conscious decision, both can be detrimental, especially in the workplace. When unconscious bias affects our decisions, we are unaware of it, because it happens outside our control. However, we can become aware of it by paying attention to our thought processes and questioning where those ideas, thoughts, or perceptions are coming from.

Keep in mind the following idea as you work on combating the unconscious biases that we all have: While you may not be able to control your first thought, you can control your second thought and first action.
      
      Bias During Stressful Times (2020)
              What is unconscious bias in the workplace, and how can we tackle it? (2019)
              What Is Unconscious Bias? +Top Strategies to Help Avoid It (2018)
              How to Outsmart Your Own Unconscious Bias (2018)
              Implicit Bias | Concepts Unwrapped (2018)
              An Introduction to Unconscious Bias (2017)
              Is Company Culture a Cover for Unconscious Bias? (2017)
              How Mindfulness Can Defeat Racial Bias (2015)
              Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People [OverDrive]
              Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men [OverDrive]
              Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do [OverDrive]
              Accordion    Leadership
      
            Leaders are the individuals entrusted with the awesome and sometimes daunting responsibility to guide, influence, and transform vision into reality within an organization. Their task as it applies to DEIA is to be vigilant in creating an environment where differences are appreciated, equity is embedded into all aspects of the work, and everyone’s voice is heard. The resources in this section are tools to enhance your thinking as leader.
      
      Inclusive Leadership: Steps Your Organization Should Take to Get it Right
              Managing Diversity in the Workplace
              The Importance of Inclusive Leadership (2020)
              The Key to Inclusive Leadership (2020)
              Why Inclusive Leaders Are Good for Organizations, and How to Become One (2020)
              Why You Need Diversity on Your Team, and 8 Ways to Build It (2019)
              Use of Voice not Force (2019)
              7 Tips to Lead a Diverse Workforce Effectively (2018)
              Why Inclusive Leadership Is Paramount To Creating A Diverse Team (2017)
              Leading Diverse Teams (2017)
              Transforming prison practices on equality and diversity (2015)
              Accordion    Inclusive Teams
      
            Everyone wants to believe their work contributions are appreciated, valued, and useful to the overall success of a team. Research from Deloitte Australia found that teams focused on diversity and inclusion tend to have higher levels of staff engagement. The resources in this section provide new insight on how to create and maintain an inclusive work environment that encourages all team members.
      
      Diversity vs Inclusion: What’s the difference?
              The Era of Inclusion: How to Help Your Team Thrive
              Diversity & Inclusion and Organizational Success (2020)
              7 Great Tips for Creating a More Inclusive Workplace (2020)
              Diversity and Inclusion Build High-Performance Teams (2019)
              Five Ways to Encourage Inclusion in Your Office (2019)
              From Insights to Inclusion: On Building Diverse Teams (2018)
              6 Steps for Building an Inclusive Workplace (2018)
              Blind spots: Challenge assumptions (2017)
              The Importance of Diversity In The Workplace (2017)
              Respect & inclusion at Deloitte (2015)
              Accordion    Race and Social Equity
      
            In the fields of corrections and law enforcement, racial and social equity should be at the forefront of business. This is a topic we must continue to wrestle with and be even more courageous about to change inequities in the system. The resources in this section will heighten your thinking about how race affects people of color as they come into and through the criminal justice system.
      
      Risk, Race, & Recidivism: Predictive Bias and Disparate Impact

            
      
One way to unwind mass incarceration without compromising public safety is to use risk assessment instruments in sentencing and corrections. Although these instruments figure prominently in current reforms, critics argue that benefits in crime control will be offset by an adverse effect on racial
              The Changing Racial Dynamics of Women's Incarceration

            
      
“Scholars are beginning to analyze the relative contributions of changes in crime rates, criminal justice policies, economics, and demographics to the slowing growth rate of the prison system, but one area that has gone largely unexplored is the impact of such changes on racial disparities in
  
      Trends in Correctional Control by Race and Sex (2019)
              Racism Has a Cost for Everyone - Ted Talk (2019)
              Bias In, Bias Out (2019)
              For black Americans, experiences of racial discrimination vary by education level, gender (2019)
              Systemic Racism Explained (2019)
              Community Supervision Marked by Racial and Gender Disparities (2018)
              Examining Race and Gender Disparities in Restrictive Housing Placements (2018)
              An Unjust Burden: The Disparate Treatment of Black Americans in the Criminal Justice System (2018)
              Report to the United Nations on Racial Disparities in the U.S. Criminal Justice System (2018)
              Divided Justice: Trends in Black and White Jail Incarceration, 1990-2013 (2018)
              Pretrial Risk Assessment Can Produce Race-Neutral Results (2017)
              The Implicit Racial Bias in Sentencing: The Next Frontier (2017)
              Ban the Box, Criminal Records, and Statistical Discrimination: A Field Experiment (2016)
              The Color of Justice: Racial and Ethnic Disparity in State Prisons (2016)
              Black Lives Matter: Eliminating Racial Inequity in the Criminal Justice System (2015)
              White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack (1990)
              Accordion    DEI Training Resources
      
            Knowledge is power. As Maya Angelou said, “When you know better, do better.” The resources in this section provide insights about the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion as a norm in the workplace. Apply these as you begin to figure out how to educate staff at all levels.
      
      Cultural Competence in Corrections (2020)
              The 10 R’s of Talking About Race: How to Have Meaningful Conversations (2020)
              6 Essential Steps to Creating a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee at Your Company (2020)
              10 Tips for Effective Diversity Training (2020)
              Accordion    Webinars
      
      What's Your Eye Chart Saying? How Our Beliefs Filter Our Views, Part 1

            
      
When was the last time you had your eyes examined? Just as the health of our vision is maintained through regular eye exams, the way in which we see the world is maintained through self-awareness and broadening our perspectives.
      
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              033371

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          Belinda D. Stewart
      
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