A Tiny Bit of Praise

      As I have told you before, about five years ago I was on the syndicated radio show called “Coast to Coast” with George Noory discussing criminal justice issues.  Soon thereafter I received letters from twelve men who are incarcerated in various prisons all around the country, so I started corresponding with them about prison conditions.  Now the number has gone up to about 40.  Most of the letters complain about all kinds of things.  But another of my correspondents (I privately call them “Pen Pals.”) recently sent me a completely different kind of letter.  He said that their prison had a new correctional officer named Martinez who handled prisoner’s accounts and, contrary to the officers that preceded him, was actually both honest and helpful. So I was asked to write a letter of commendation to their new warden about this Officer Martinez.  And I did.  And what was the result?  The warden was so pleased that he wrote the following message to all people in the prison:

      “Effective immediately, all incarcerated persons here at Salinas Valley State Prison will have the opportunity to recognize an employee member who has positively impacted their lives or has demonstrated exemplary behavior.  These submissions are anonymous, and employees of any classification may be nominated.  The Positive message Box/Employee Recognition forms will be with your IACs as well as within your housing units. . . .”

      Then my correspondent’s letter went on to say: “Isn’t it amazing how a tiny bit of praise can go so far?  The rush of today’s life doesn’t allow much time to show any appreciation for a job well done.  You should see these nurses and Correctional Officers when the Warden sends a note that someone actually noticed something nice about what they did.  It’s phenomenal when you see the unexpected joy they have after they receive that totally unexpected compliment.  A big smile appears, then you see a chest poking out!  You can bet when they get home this is the first thing that comes out of their mouth when someone asks: ‘How was your day?’”  And he went on to say that he had heard that a couple of other nearby prisons have already heard about what was going with them and are gearing up to do the same thing.  So again I cite to Dr. Milton Friedman’s “Incentives Matter!”  Rewarding good conduct encourages other good conduct.  What a surprise! It’s almost as if people are actually human.

Definition for the week: “Suburbia: Where they tear out the trees, and then name streets after them.”