Clear and Cole: Chapter 13 - INSTITUTIONAL MANAGEMENT


HOW ARE PRISONS RUN?

C&C begin this chapter by noting correctional officers'
difficulty in "playing by the rules." We referred to the
outcome of his as "loose coupling," which is the gap between
what organizational rules specify be done and what actually
gets done.

Prisons, as a TOTAL INSTITUTION, are guided by numerous rules.
The concept of "total institution" comes from Erving Goffman's
work ASYLUMS, where he defined them as those institutions where
daily life of all participants is highly regulated and regimented,
and personal autonomy is dramatically reduced.
Prisons are FORMAL ORGANIZATIONS, bureaucracies, etc.
(explain)

Several characteristics:

     1. Continuous organization of official functions bound by
     rules

     2. A specified sphere of competence (includes obligations,
     sanctions, division of labor and authority, etc)

     3.  Organization of offices in a hierarchical structure

     4. Rules may be technical rules or NORMS  (but he wasn't
     clear on this)

     5.  Separation of functionaries from "Ownership" (eg, in
     banks, corporations, etc)

     6. "power" and "rights" flow from offic,e not personality

     7. Administrative acts, decisions, rule, etc formulated
     and recorded in writing (ie, FORMALLY STATED, not
     arbitrary---a form of INFORMATION SPECIFICATION"

     8. "universalistic" criteria in operating, selecting
     leaders, establishing rules, etc

In prisons, rules supposedly guide what should be done.
They are based on power (guards, staff, politics, inmates, etc)
But the day-to-day running is a power game between guards & cons.

TYPES OF POWER

  a) Compliance (obeying on request)
  b) Remunerative power (exchange)
  c) Normative powr (symbolic rewards, etc)
  d) Coercive power (force)

[PLACE IDOC'S CHAIN OF COMMAND ON BOARD]

Distinguish between line & staff personnel

EXPLAIN LOOSE COUPLING IN PRISONS: WHAT SHOULD OCCUR AND WHAT IS
SUPPOSED TO OCCUR.
POINT: PRISONS ARE A "NEGOTIATED" ENTERPRISE.

Stateville's HISTORY:

     Anarchy (1925-36)

     Charismatic Dominance (1936-61) (Joe Ragen)

     Drift (1961-70)

     Crisis (1970-75)

     Partial restoration (1975-mid-1980s)

     Transition (mid-1980s - mid-1990s) - containment and control

     Mid-1996 to present: Control and discipline (Speck tape)

CORRECTIONAL EMPLOYEES

A. ADMINISTRATORS AND SUPERVISORS:
(LIST SOME).

SINCE MID-1960S, A "CORRECTIONAL MANAGEMENT" IDEOLOGY HAS EMERGED,
CHARACTERIZED BY:
  --FOCUS ON PRINCIPLES OF BUREAUCRATIC MANAGEMENT
  --GROWTH OF "PROFESSIONALISM"
  --CENTRALIZATION
  --LINKS TO EXTERNAL AGENCIES (MED, PSYCH, LEG, ETC)

WHAT MAKES A "GOOD GUARD?"
FROM INMATE'S PERSPECTIVE:
  --KNOW WHERE YOU STAND
  --NOT "WISHY-WASHY" ON RULES
  --"HUMAN"
  --OK TO FOLLOW RULES, BUT NOT RIGIDLY
  --ONE WHO CAN "DO TIME" WELL
  --NON-CORRUPT
  --NOT ONE WHO NECESSARILY IS SOFT OR WHO
    DOES FAVORS OR WHO CAN BE PUSHED AROUND
    (SINCE THIS CAN WORK AGAINST INMATES)

C. FUNCTIONAL SPECIALISTS (eg, medical staff, dietary, business)

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