NCJ Number
89620
Date Published
Unknown
Length
32 pages
Annotation
Based upon empirical testing at the Federal Correctional Institution at Lompoc, Calif., it appears that the decentralized, team-oriented approach of functional unit management (FUM) had no measurable impact on variables of humane control of inmates.
Abstract
FUM restructures a large institution into several mini-institutions which coexist in the same prison and provides relatively autonomous suborganizations composed ideally of 50-250 inmates and a staff for each unit that provides direct services to the inmates. The goals of FUM are (1) to establish a safe, humane environment which minimizes the detrimental effects of confinement; and (2) to provide a variety of counseling, social, educational, and vocational training opportunities and programs which are most likely to aid inmates in their successful return to the community. In testing the effectiveness of FUM's at the Federal Correctional Institution at Lompoc, the levels of incident reports and administrative remedies (inmate grievances) were used as indicators of humane control. Time series analysis was used, because it is well suited to measuring intervention effects in data aggregated by discrete time units. The results indicate no significant effects for FUM on the institutional level of humane control as measured by variations in the selected dependent variables, suggesting that FUM as applied in this particular institution is not meeting its potential. Generalization of these results is unwarranted due to unavoidable problems in the conceptual and methodological design of the study. Tabular and graphic data are provided, along with 25 bibliographic entries.