Institutionalizing Resilience: Catastrophic Power Outage Planning for Correctional Institutions
Abstract
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has invested several years of planning into preparations for long-term power outages in the United States. However, planning for correctional institutions has been missing from most power-outage plans. Therefore, individual jails and prison systems are responsible for building resilient organizations from within. It is unlikely that the United States will require correctional institutions to comply with guidance for federal emergency planning mandates. This thesis focuses on the effects of emergencies in correctional institutions that experienced extended power outages. The research analyzed the emergency planning and response efforts of two significant events and evaluated the impacts on the staff, inmates, and other stakeholders. This thesis found that a failure to prioritize emergency planning in these correctional institutions was the catalyst to poor responses with adverse consequences. Systemic failures in planning for emergencies created the greatest challenges for the institutions. This thesis supports the idea that correctional institutions should consider implementing the behaviors of high-reliability organizations to build resilient institutions in advance of future emergencies. Using the framework that guides high-reliability organizations, correctional institutions should focus on planning for disasters and mitigating failures to improve their response to the most catastrophic of disasters.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 2022
- Accession Number
- AD1173348
Entities
People
- Shena J. Kohler
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School