NCJ Number
182179
Date Published
1996
Length
232 pages
Annotation
This study describes what is necessary for any large prison to be rigidly controlled, so as to eliminate violence, sexual abuse, extortion, the demeaning of inmates by guards or other inmates, and the gratuitous inequality of the strong over the weak among inmates, with attention to the management of Stateville Penitentiary (maximum-security) in Illinois under Warden Joseph E. Ragen (1957-63).
Abstract
This book describes the prison's system of close control based on punishment of guards and inmates alike, as well as on a monopoly of physical violence, which is understood to be different from brutality. In addition to describing Ragen's system, the author suggests how this system could serve as a basis for control in today's maximum-security prisons. After describing the history of this book and the author's participation in the operation of Stateville Penitentiary during 1957-63, the book profiles the basic task of the warden: to synchronize men and their behavior in time and space, so the prison runs smoothly daily. After this discussion of the ecology of the prison, chapters discuss Ragen's control of the guards based upon all punishments meted out to them during a 5-month period in 1958. Three chapters discuss the subsequent control of the inmates based upon all major punishments meted out to inmates during 12 months in 1959 and 1960. A chapter then explains the inmate economy, how Ragen controlled it, and how the subsequent warden bankrupted it to gain greater power over the inmates. The final chapter discusses what can be learned from Ragen's system in managing prisons in general. Chapter notes, a 125-item bibliography, and a subject index