NCJ Number
185019
Date Published
2001
Length
42 pages
Annotation
This chapter on corrections administration and the privatization of prisons considers the bureaucratic model and legal-rational authority, the organization of corrections, forms of correctional administration, prison administrator selection and training, and issues in prison privatization.
Abstract
The first section in the chapter outlines the characteristics of Max Weber's (1864-1920) bureaucratic model and associated legal-rational authority. The latter is based on law that vests persons with rights to order others to comply with directives. This is followed with an explanation of the competing human relations model of organizational management. This section of the chapter concludes with a discussion of correctional settings and the power variable. The next section of the chapter addresses the organization of corrections, with attention to the organization of State and Federal corrections. This is followed by a section on the forms of correctional administration, which encompass four alternative prison management styles: the authoritarian model, the bureaucratic-lawful model, the shared-powers model, and the inmate control model. Other warden leadership styles are outlined as well. The remaining sections of the chapter focus on prison administrator selection and training and prison privatization. Selected issues on privatization include the professionalization of administration, public accountability, prison labor and prisons for profit, public reactions to privatization, and political considerations. 5 tables, key terms, questions for review, and 5 suggested readings