NCJ Number
110980
Journal
Criminal Justice and Behavior Volume: 15 Issue: 1 Dated: (March 1988) Pages: 24-38
Date Published
1988
Length
15 pages
Annotation
Increasingly, classification in corrections is recognized as a series of procedures that result in inmates being sorted into management- and program-relevant groups.
Abstract
Internal classification is a more recent refinement of this process. A number of different methods have been devised for systematically categorizing (and differentially housing) a single institution's prisoner population. This article discusses the advantages gained by conceptualizing a single institution as being a 'mini-correctional system.' Data are reported (from both Federal and State prison systems) that indicate reductions in both the seriousness and frequency of disruptive inmate behavior subsequent to the implementation of an internal classification approach; postrelease information is also presented. (Publisher abstract)