NCJ Number
115795
Date Published
1989
Length
256 pages
Annotation
Using long-term participant observation and open-ended interviewing, this study examines the management of the increasing number of violent offenders and how to lower the cost of operating maximum-security prisons.
Abstract
For the purposes of this study, the author was trained and received his credentials as a Federal corrections officer, after which he spent a year as a participant observer at the Federal Penitentiary at Lompoc, Calif. The study explored Lompoc's relatively low rate of violence, despite being populated by many violent offenders. The apparent elements of Lompoc's success are an institutional culture that rewards peace and quiet rather than violence and a prison factory that makes a profit and provides inmates with the opportunity for material advancement in prison. These success elements in turn depend on an effective leadership style in top management. The study reasons that the best place for otherwise sane, violent criminals is a well-run prison that keeps them from victimizing others while ensuring that they themselves have a secure, nonviolent place to live. The cost of imprisoning such offenders is significantly less than the cost incurred by allowing violent recidivists to be free in society. Overall, the study argues that an employment-based system of social control can keep down both prison operating costs and prison violence without armed or abusive correctional staffers. Glossary, 228 references.