NCJ Number
127340
Journal
American Jails Volume: 4 Issue: 2 Dated: (July/August 1990) Pages: 85-87
Date Published
1990
Length
3 pages
Annotation
All Saskatchewan (Canada) correctional centers are being transformed into the living unit system which is designed to facilitate the development of inmate attitudes and skills necessary to function responsibly while incarcerated in community-based facilities and thereafter in the open community.
Abstract
Three new, 40-bed units have been built at the Regina Provincial Correctional Centre. The old cell units were converted to offices within the units; formerly, the correctional staff stayed outside the gate. The units were equipped with washers and dryers as well as cooking stoves, so inmates can wash their own clothes and prepare their own breakfasts. The job tasks of correctional staff integrate both security and case-management duties. The vocational training emphasis has shifted toward prison industries, and recreation is organized by unit. Team leaders responsible for units receive training in staff and casework management. New staff hired to fill positions created by the new living units have received the 16-week correction worker training program. Staff-inmate relationships have improved under the living unit system, and inmate behavioral management is enhanced by staff's knowledge of and contact with inmates. Inmate discipline charges have been significantly reduced. It is a disadvantage, however, to undergo transition into a living unit model while still maintaining the physical features of an old facility, since inmates still cling to the values associated with the facility.