NCJ Number
137190
Journal
Federal Prisons Journal Volume: 2 Issue: 4 Dated: (Winter 1992) Pages: 15- 19
Date Published
1992
Length
5 pages
Annotation
The Federal Bureau of Prisons introduced functional unit management in 1970 and continues to develop the concept and explore its potential.
Abstract
Under unit management, each group of 50-100 inmates has its own staff team, becomes a specialized mini-prison within a larger prison, and shares the institution's facilities with other units. Unit management was initially developed to reduce inmate violence and to house inmate drug abusers in regular prisons. The three types of units are those focusing on treatment; those providing education, training, work experiences, and counseling; and those that are management-related. The management-related units are the most common and are based on inmate classification by such factors as personality type or age. In deciding on what specialized units and programs to create with the limited resources available, management must consider the problems for the inmates and other offenders if they were integrated into the regular inmate population, the inmates' needs for specialized programs, whether the program can be effective without dealing with the offenders as a group, and other alternatives available within the Federal prison system. Two possible models involve the creation of institutions that are conglomerates of special units or placing one or two special units in prisons that are otherwise unspecialized. Photographs