Organizational Context of the Prison - A Study of Five Maximum Security Prisons

• NCJ Number: 102618
• Author(s): J G Fox
• Date Published: 1980
• Length: 376 pages
• Grant Number(s): 78-NI-AX-0033
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Justice (NIJ); US Dept of Justice NIJ Pub
• Corporate Author: American Justice Institute
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Questionnaire, interview, and observation data were obtained from managers, correctional officers, and inmates at five State maximum-security prisons to (1) identify the nature of current organizational and management problems and (2) examine the relationship of formal prisoner organizations to the prison's larger organizational structure.

Abstract

Data were obtained between May 1978 and April 1979 for prisons in California, Minnesota, New York, New Jersey, and Oregon. Correctional officer responses to a six-scale instrument assessing their work-related concerns indicates their focus on issues pertaining to power, control, personal safety, and change. There was little variation in officer responses among prisons. Male officers at most prisons were strongly opposed to the use of female officers in security assignments in housing, work, or recreational areas. Privacy was the central concern. Racial stratification and conflict was the primary factor determining prisoner social organization. The emergence of formal inmate organizations was a response to inmates' need to pursue interests and the bureaucratization of procedures for authorizing prisoner activities. Prison management generally supports inmate organizations, but line officers view ethnic organizations as security threats. Tabular data, 108-item bibliography, and appended research instruments. (Author abstract modified)