In describing the characteristics of the contemporary jail, four papers discuss the complexity of jail functions and jail social structures. Topics include a historical view of jails' multiple roles; comparisons, problems, and prescriptions regarding prison and jail inmate subcultures; observations on jailers' work relations; and dilemmas of contemporary jail management. Papers in the section on the jail's response to a changing environment address correctional law applied to jails, the changing inmate population, and links between the jail and its environment. Topics include overcrowding and the jail budget, problems facing female jail inmates, making jail reform a political issue, and problems and possibilities in jails' response to court intervention. The concluding section of papers, which focuses on rethinking jail management, discusses the management of mentally ill jail inmates, the 'podular/direct supervision' concept of jail facility design and management, a jail officer inservice training program, and the use of participatory management in planning operating policies and procedures for a new jail. Chapter references. For individual papers, see NCJ 103689-701.