Assets and Liabilities of Correctional Industries

• NCJ Number: 81573
• Author(s): G S Funke; B L Wayson; N Miller
• Date Published: 1982
• Length: 164 pages
• Sale Source: Lexington Books
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS.

Annotation

This book traces prison industry history in the United States, evaluates the free-venture model, examines legal issues, and recommends ways to improve correctional industry operation.

Abstract

The trends in correctional philosophy from discipline, to reintegration of the offender, to economic and rehabilitative goals have all affected the decline of prison industries over the past century. The development of the free-venture model, based on the microeconomic theories of profit-making and financial incentives and the reintegrative goals of graduated release and job placement, began in the mid-1970's. A 1979-80 evaluation of the free-venture model as implemented in six States assessed the model's impact on institutions and inmates, explored the free-venture shops' economic behavior and potential for self-sufficiency, and identified and analyzed laws and regulations facilitating or constraining correctional industry operations. The LEAA-sponsored evaluation found that none of the six States had fully implemented the free-venture model. In addition, the majority of the ventures were not making a profit and suffered from problems related to legal and regulatory constraints, worker status, organizational structure, and compensation. Recent actions taken by many State legislatures to pass modern prison industries laws represent constructive changes in lawmaker's attitudes toward correctional industries. The book recommends that all States review their laws relating to correctional industries, with emphasis on law revision covering organization, compensation, financing, and regulation. States should adopt human-resource accounting, improve record keeping and analytical capacity related to prison industries, use wage systems which reward inmates' productivity and effort, make stronger efforts to improve post-release job placement, and move toward private sector management and ownership of correctional industries. Tables, notes for some chapters, an index, a glossary, a bibliography listing 105 references, and appendixes discussing compensation issues and barriers to ex-offender employment are provided.