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Books & Papers

Operations Dialogue in Pandemic Conditions

Matthew Whibley and Eric Fling

Across 45 facilities during Covid-19, Matthew Whibley and Eric Fling paired facilitation with hard data analysis — so that what correctional officers voiced in dialogue sessions actually reached the decisions that shaped their work.

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Matthew Whibley and Eric Fling document how VADOC Operations adapted its dialogue practice during Covid-19 to surface the concerns of correctional officers (COs) across 45 facilities, combining facilitation expertise with qualitative data analysis to ensure that what emerged in sessions could be acted upon at regional and divisional levels. A randomised, purposive sample of 90 COs was drawn to mirror the age, race, gender, and tenure profile of the full CO population; six virtual sessions, held via Google Meet, covered both morning and afternoon shifts and a range of post assignments. The guiding questions were deliberately simple: what is going well, and what can be improved? Front- and back-end steps were built into the process specifically to handle issues beyond the authority of individual units, creating accountability pathways to the Chief of Corrections Operations. Published in The World Needs Dialogue! Four: Putting Dialogue to Work (2022), the paper offers a replicable model for organisations seeking to elevate staff voice under operational constraint.

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Books & Papers

Topics

Dialogue in prisons and justice settings, Facilitation and practice

US corrections, Applied practice

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