NCJ Number
186011
Date Published
1998
Length
10 pages
Annotation
The author, a political scientist, challenges the view of sociologists that prisons should be analyzed from the perspective of the inmate society and instead argues the importance of good prison management has been neglected because of the view that inmates run prisons.
Abstract
Much of the research on prisons has been done by sociologists and focuses heavily on the social order of cell blocks. This research raises serious doubts about the efficacy of prison management and suggests prison managers can do virtually nothing to improve conditions behind bars, especially if prisons develop a distinctive social system along racial and ethnic lines. The author maintains, however, that general principles of good correctional leadership can be applied to manage prisons, based on his research on prison management in Texas, Michigan, and California. He identifies six general principles of good correctional leadership: (1) successful leaders focus on and inspire subordinates to focus on results rather than processes; (2) organizational culture is custodial at its core; (3) leaders of successful institutions follow the principle of management by walking around; (4) successful leaders make significant alliances with key politicians, judges, journalists, reformers, and other outsiders who have the ability to affect a prison's fiscal health, statutory authority, and public image; (5) successful leaders are rarely innovative, but their innovations are far-reaching and reasons for them are made known in advance to both inmates and staff; and (6) successful leaders are in office long enough to understand and, as necessary, to modify a prison's internal operations and external relations. 14 notes