Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction Published Articles by Wilkinson

About Former Director Reginald A. Wilkinson

Dr. Reginald A. Wilkinson began employment with the State of Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (DRC) in September 1973. He served in a variety of positions including superintendent of the Corrections Training Academy, warden of the Dayton Correctional Institution, and deputy director of prisons - south region.  In 1991, he was appointed Director of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, a position he held until his retirement in 2006.

Director Wilkinson’s academic background includes a B.A. degree in political science and a M.A. degree in higher education administration, both from The Ohio State University. He was also awarded a doctor of education degree (Ed.D.) from the University of Cincinnati.

Dr. Wilkinson was President and Executive Director of the International Association of Reentry. He is also Past President of both the Association of State Correctional Administrators and the American Correctional Association. He was Vice Chair for North America of the International Corrections and Prisons Association as well as the Director of the ICPA Centre for Exchanging Correctional Best Practices.

Wilkinson authored numerous journal articles on a variety of correctional topics. He was editor of two books: Correctional Best Practices: Directors’ Perspectives and Best Reentry Practices: Directors’ Perspectives. As ACA president, he commissioned the publication of Best Practices: Excellence in Corrections. Dr. Wilkinson has written chapters in a number of books, a few of which include: Ohio Crime, Ohio Justice; Prison and Jail Administration: Practice and Theory; Frontiers of Justice, Volume 2; and The Full Spectrum: Essays on Staff Diversity in Corrections.

Published Articles

American Correctional Association

• What Works? (Corrections Today, August 1996)
• American Correctional Association Presidential Acceptance Speech (Delivered on August 21, 1996, and published in Corrections Today: December 1996)
• A Tribute to ACA Past Presidents Presidential Address (American Correctional Association, Winter Conference; published in Best Practices: Excellence in Corrections; 1998)
• Best Practices: Programs We Can Live With (Opening remarks, 127th Congress of Correction, August 1997)
• Tribute to Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Speech (Delivered on January 19, 1998, at the American Correctional Association Winter Conference)
• Best Practices: Tools for Correctional Excellence (American Correctional Association, 128th Congress of Correction; published in Best Practices: Excellence in Corrections; 1998)

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ASCA President's Corner

• Dr. Susan M. Hunter (Association of State Correctional Administrators Newsletter, April 2004)
• Dog Gone It! (Association of State Correctional Administrators Newsletter, March 2004)
• Correctional Healthcare (Association of State Correctional Administrators Newsletter, January/February 2004)
• What's In A Song (Association of State Correctional Administrators Newsletter, December 2003)
• Restorative Justice Week (Association of State Correctional Administrators Newsletter, November 2003)
• Correctional Reform (Association of State Correctional Administrators Newsletter, October 2003)
• Corrections Cost Savings (Association of State Correctional Administrators Newsletter, September 2003)
• Correctional Training (Association of State Correctional Administrators Newsletter, July/August 2003)
• New Directors Training (Association of State Correctional Administrators Newsletter, June 2003)
• Offender Reentry (Association of State Correctional Administrators Newsletter, May 2003)
• Spring Has Sprung (Association of State Correctional Administrators Newsletter, April 2003)
• The Chickens are Coming Home to Roost (Association of State Correctional Administrators Newsletter, March 2003)
• A Warm Welcome to the New Directors (Association of State Correctional Administrators Newsletter, January/February 2003)
• Remembering Ellis MacDougall (Association of State Correctional Administrators Newsletter, December 2002)
• Standardization + Individuality = Good Management (Association of State Correctional Administrators Newsletter, November 2002)
• Confessions of an Association Junkie (Association of State Correctional Administrators Newsletter, October 2002)
• Unique but United (Association of State Correctional Administrators Newsletter, September 2002)
• Lemonade from Lemons (Association of State Correctional Administrators Newsletter, July/August 2002)

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Community Justice

• Curbing Violence in Ohio: State, Local Initiatives Target At-Risk Youth (Corrections Today: December 1994)
• Ohio Works to Support Needs of Crime Victims (Business First; Columbus, Ohio, March 7, 1997)
• A Shifting Paradigm: Modern Restorative Justice Principles Have Their Roots in Ancient Cultures (Corrections Today; December 1997)
• Community Justice in Ohio: Department Implements Variety of Programs to "Restore" the Community (Corrections Today; December 1997)
• Interview Regarding Restorative Justice (Full Circle Newsletter; January 1998)
• The Emergence of Restorative or Community Justice in the United States (Frontiers of Justice: Volume 2: Coddling or Common Sense?, 1998)
• Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction Seeks True Justice (Insights, published by the Offender Preparation & Education Network, Inc., Winter 2000)
• The Impact of Community Service Work on Ohio State Prisoners: A Restorative Justice Perspective and Overview (Corrections Management Quarterly, 2000)
• Restorative Justice: A Concept Whose Time Has Come (Corrections Management Quarterly, 2000)
• Point of View: Crime & Punishment. Prison Chief: 'Get Tough On Crime Attitudes Need To End' (National Interest Interview, June 11, 2003)

Diversity

• Public Hearing Testimony to the Governor's Commission on Socially Disadvantaged Black Males (Dayton, Ohio; February 1990)
• Harassment and Sexual Discrimination in Corrections (Association of State Correctional Administrators Newsletter; November 1992)
• Intolerance in Prison: A Recipe for Disaster (Corrections Today; June 1999)

International Corrections

• Republic of South Africa: Department of Correctional Services (Association of State Correctional Administrators Newsletter, guest writer; June 1998)
• The Israel Prison Service: International Summit (Association of State Correctional Administrators Newsletter, July/August 1998)
• ICPA Inaugural Conference in Budapest, Hungary (Association of State Correctional Administrators Newsletter, October 1999)
• Dispelling the Myth that Nothing Works (Justice Review International, Issue 2, 2003)
• Correctional Best Practices: What Does It Mean In Times of Perpetual Transition? (Keynote Speech, delivered at the Fifth Annual Conference, International Corrections and Prisons Association, Miami, Florida, October 27, 2003)

Lucasville Disturbance

• Hostage Situation Ends in Ohio (Association of State Correctional Administrators Newsletter, April 1993)
• Effects of the Lucasville Incident on Corrections in Ohio (Association of State Correctional Administrators Newsletter, May 1993)
• Corrections a Year After Lucasville (Portsmouth Daily Times, May 30, 1994)
• Stronger Prisons are Riot's Legacy (The Cleveland Plain Dealer; June 2, 1994)
• Lucasville: The Aftermath (Corrections Today; August 1994)
• After the Storm: Anatomy of a Riot's Aftermath (Corrections Management Quarterly; 1997)

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Management

• Urban Prisons Use Community Resources (Corrections Today; April 1989)
• Regionalization of Corrections: Viable Option for Growth Management, or Dilution of Control? (Association of State Correctional Administrators Newsletter; May 1991)
• Total Quality Management in Corrections (Association of State Correctional Administrators Newsletter interview, June 1992)
• Public Opinion: Sometimes You're the Windshield, Sometimes You're the Bug (Corrections Management Quarterly; 1997)
• The Future of Adult Corrections (Corrections Management Quarterly; 1997)
• Testimony to the National Conference of State Legislators (April 1997)
• The Future of Adult Corrections (Testimony provided to the National Council on Crime and Delinquency's Conference on: "Reducing Crime in America: The Agenda for the 21st Century," December 5, 1997)
• Director Wilkinson Speaks Out on American Correctional Association Accreditation (Ohio Community Corrections Association newsletter; January/February 1999)
• Letter to the Editor - Director Claims DRC is not a Spendthrift Agency (The Columbus Post; Friday, May 21, 1999)
• Oral Testimony on the Prison Industries Reform Act of 1999 (H.R. 2558) (Submitted to the United States House of Representatives House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, August 5, 1999)
• Written Testimony on the Prison Industries Reform Act of 1999 (H.R. 2558) (Submitted to the United States House of Representatives House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, August 5, 1999)
• January 2000 Interview Regarding the Future of Corrections
• Back to Basics: Focusing on What's Important (ASCA Publication, Correctional Best Practices: Directors' Perspectives; August 2000)
• Centralized Inmate Transportation: Saving Resources and Improving Safety (ASCA Publication, Correctional Best Practices: Directors' Perspectives; August 2000)
• Partnerships in Corrections (American Correctional Association, State of Corrections 1999)
• Interview Regarding Electrocution, Striped Uniforms and HBO's "OZ" (Cleveland Free Times, August, 2001)
• The Bureau of Staff Enrichment: Employees are our most Valuable Resource (Corrections Today; June 2002)
• Written Testimony on Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act (s. 346) (Submitted to The United States Senate, The Senate Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Financial Management, the Budget and International Security, April 7, 2004)

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Offender Programming

• Sex Offender Risk Reduction Center (ASCA Publication, Correctional Best Practices: Directors' Perspectives; August 2000)
• Youthful Offenders, Recognizing Their Strengths Through Resiliency: Changing Minds, Changing Lives (Journal of Correctional Best Practices)

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Prison Health Care

• Revolutionizing Mental Health Care in Ohio Prisons (The Correctional Psychologist; July 1995)
• A Case for Change: Mental Health and Correctional Transformation Using Non-Traditional Strategies (The Correctional Psychologist; April 1997)
• Substance Abuse in America's Prisons: A Case for Detection, Interdiction and Intervention (Testimony provided to the United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention and the NGO Alliance for Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, October 27, 1997)
• Director of large prison system relates mental health services available to inmates (The National Psychologist, March/April 2000)
• Mental Health Care for Ohio State Prisoners: The view from the Directors Office (Correctional Mental Health Report, January/February 2000)
• Testimony on Offenders with Mental Illness in the Criminal Justice System (Submitted to The United States House of Representatives, House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Bill McCollum, Chairman, September 21, 2000)
• Don't Pin Spread of AIDS on Prisons (Akron Beacon Journal, April 2002)
• Written Testimony on the Criminal Justice System and Mentally Ill Offenders (Submitted to The United States Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing, June 11, 2002)
• Prisons have clean bill of health (Toledo Blade, Letter to the Editor, May 25, 2003)
• Testimony on Mentally Ill Offenders Treatment and Crime Reduction Act of 2003 (Submitted to The United States Senate Judiciary Committee, July 30, 2003

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Offender Reentry

• A Fair and Balanced Approach is Goal of Those Working in Parole System (Dayton Daily News; September 20, 1997)
• Offender Reentry: A Storm Overdue (Corrections Management Quarterly; 2001)
• Interview with Director Wilkinson and Jeremy Travis on National Public Radio, November 19, 2001
• Can Rehabilitation Succeed and Reentry be Successful (American Bar Association, Justice Anthony Kennedy Commission, November 12, 2003
• Prison Reform Through Offender Reentry: A Partnership Between Courts and Corrections (Unpublished Paper, submitted to Pace Law School, Symposium on Prison Reform Law, October 2003)
• Prisoners Reentering Society: Revisiting the Transition From Incarceration to the Community (Paper Prepared for Third National Forum on Restorative Justice, Sponsored by Justice Fellowship, Orlando, Florida, March 14-16, 2002)

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Prison Life

• Prison Laborers Learn Skills, Serve Society (Business First, November 7, 1994)
• Giving Prison Guests More To Do (The Cleveland Plain Dealer; November 19, 1994)
• No 'Hollywood' in Real Prisons (Mansfield News Journal; September 17, 1997, and Dayton Business Journal, October 3, 1997)
• Visiting in Prison (Prison and Jail Administration's Practices and Theory; 1999)
• Kairos moves ahead in Ohio (God's Special Time; September-October 2000)
• Federal Prison Rape Law is Not Needed (Cincinnati Enquirer, letter to the editor; December 26, 2002)
• The Cost of Conjugal Visitation Outweighs the Benefits (Corrections Today; June 2003)
• Prison Jobs Teach Inmates Skills, Instill Work Ethic (Columbus Dispatch, August 21, 2004)

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Technology

• On Track with Technology (Corrections Today; July 1995)
• Interview Regarding Telemedicine (TechBeat; Spring 1998)
• Is There a Doctor in the House? (Corrections Forum, July/August 1998)
• Beyond Telemedicine. Ohio Expands its Use of Videoconferencing Technologies (Corrections Today; April 1998)
• Keynote Speech, American Correctional Association/National Institute of Corrections Technology Conference (Best Practices: Excellence in Corrections; 1998)
• Corrections Technology Improving (Chillicothe Gazette, February 5, 2000)