NCJ Number
85067
Date Published
1974
Length
7 pages
Annotation
The correctional system deprives the inmate of responsibility while making correctional workers accountable for objectives over which they have little or no control; Mutual Agreement Programming helps to eliminate this 'double-bind.'
Abstract
Inmate life in prison is deliberately structured to permit ease of organizational operation by limiting the number and types of responsible choices left to the inmate. This further debilitates inmates in their ability to function responsibly in normative society. The inmate is placed in a double-bind by being punished for irresponsibility while being denied the opportunity to be responsible. Correctional workers have ultimate responsibility for the success or failure of such correctional objectives as societal protection and inmate rehabilitation. The result of this unachievable responsibility and subsequent accountability is that correctional workers are punished for the inability to perform responsibilities that are largely beyond their control. Mutual Agreement Programming is a procedure by which the State's correctional system, the State's paroling authority, and an inmate can enter a contractual agreement in which all three agree about needs and problems and what treatment plan is appropriate. The correctional system agrees to provide the resources needed to enact the treatment program; the inmate agrees to complete the program; and the paroling authority agrees to release the inmate when the program is completed. By specifying achievable objectives and delineating responsibilities, such an agreement helps to eliminate the double-bind in which both inmates and corrections workers find themselves. Thirteen bibliographic entries are provided.