Question

What is the best practice when deciding if some condition, occurrence, or circumstance suggests the need for counseling or the need to go directly to disciplinary action?

Answer 1

The circumstances or prevailing conditions surrounding the ocurrence of event, as well as the past history of the event as well as  the nature and conduct of the people involved in the incident is the right way to go when one needs to determine whether counselling would be better ot a disciplinary action is the right option. For example, a person who has been forced to steal due to abject penury and hunger needs to be counselled and provided with right advice to ensure that he does not steal again. On the other hand, if the same offence is committed by a person who is a hardened thief and has a history of petty crimes should be subjeced to disciplinary action, as counselling is less likely to work on him. In this way, to determine the right action, the best practice is to thoroughly examine the circumstances as well as the conduct of persons involved, to ensure the maximisation of the effectiveness of the outcome.