NCJ Number
79784
Date Published
1981
Length
196 pages
Annotation
A review of popular industrial models of management indicates that they are only partially applicable to corrections management. Unique features of institutions, such as their bureaucracy, finances, and inmates, must be considered in developing a management style.
Abstract
The managerial models examined include management-by-objectives, organizational development, participatory management, the contingency model of management, and traditional autocracy. The process of management, according to most models, requires the development of objectives. The text looks at defining objectives in a correctional institution in view of its main custody and treatment aims. Unlike the business sector, public correctional institutions must consider the input of interested groups - formal authorities, specialists in the field, the public, and the staff and inmates - in formulating objectives. Other managerial aspects to consider in developing a style include the manager's power to operate the institution, the kinds of power that can be retained or delegated by the manager, and the control of power through the control of information. Special managerial problems involving employees of prison industries (both inmates and staff) are considered in terms of prison settings and constraints. These problems involve maximization of production, staff development, working conditions and fringe benefits, unionism, and group endeavors. Furthermore, the text discusses the constraints placed on managers by the governmental bureaucracy which spells out the general policy the manager must follow; by finances; and by the community. Special consideration is given to types of budgets (zero-based, factorial, performance and programming) and budget building, and to the ways the public gets involved (mainly through advisory committees and voluntarism). A final chapter discusses the inmates as they relate to management style, addressing issues of inmate-staff interaction, prisoner grievances, prisoner rights, and prison conditions and atmosphere. An index and over 300 references are provided.