NCJ Number
80484
Journal
Corrections Today Volume: 43 Issue: 6 Dated: (November/December 1981) Pages: 42-43,46-48,50
Date Published
1981
Length
6 pages
Annotation
In tracing the evolution of prison industry programs, this article presents findings from a study of a prison industry program model and offers suggestions for the future.
Abstract
As of 1972, 360 prison industries were operating in 48 States (Alaska and Arkansas had no prison industries). Studies showed the typical prison industry to be characterized by antiquated equipment 'featherbedding' (more inmates assigned to the shop than are needed for the work), short work day, frequent call outs (interruption of an inmate's work day), low performance expectations, low skill jobs, unqualified supervisory staff, and inadequate recordkeeping systems. Recognizing the unrealized potential of prison industry programs in both the economic and rehabilitative spheres, the National Institute for Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice sponsored a study that produced the free venture (FV) model for prison industries. The basic goal of FV is the establishment of prison industries as similar as possible to private-sector counterparts. Program objectives include at least a 7-hour work day, a wage based on productivity, supervisor authority to hire and fire inmates, economically self-sustaining shops, and support for inmates' efforts to find employment after release. Assessments of FV programs in seven States show overall positive impacts. Directions for the future should include documentation of the experiences of pioneering States in a form useful to other States, an analysis of the economic viability of 'real-world' prison industries, and a controlled experiment to confirm and cross-validate earlier findings regarding institutional and individual impact.