NCJ Number
86773
Journal
Prison Journal Volume: 62 Issue: 2 Dated: (Autumn/Winter 1982) Pages: complete issue
Editor(s)
R A Davis
Date Published
1982
Length
82 pages
Annotation
Private sector involvement in prison work programs has reemerged during the 1970's as a tool for efficiently managing prison labor and providing inmates with meaningful work. These articles discuss trends in prison industry design and management.
Abstract
Following passage of restrictive legislation in the early 20th century, prison industries ceased to be a dynamic element in corrections. Their reemergence was signified by the creation of the Free Venture Program in the early 1970's, which captured national attention and caused several States to initiate similar reforms. This program was designed to emulate the outside world of work as closely as possible within the prison setting. Because the prison environment is often not conducive to profitable manufacturing and service operations, corrections thinkers have promoted the concept of an 'industrial prison.' Such a facility would expect all inmates to hold meaningful jobs, either with private firms or State-run industries; wages would be no lower than the Federal minimum wage. Prisoners could pay restitution and fines, help support dependents, and build savings accounts to support themselves upon release. The text describes the structure of the industrial prison, as well as trends in Free Venture programming, management, and marketing. A criminal justice professor explains how Japanese 'Theory Z' management can be adapted to prison organization. China's prison industries have been particularly successful, according to a former correctional administrator, in employing a quasi-capitalistic approach to administering prison work programs. Another article examines political influences on prison reform, through a review of prison guards' working conditions in Oklahoma from 1907 until 1980. Most articles include footnotes. For individual articles, see NCJ 86774-79.