Formal controls include high staffing levels, high perimeter security, inmate classification and placement, segregation, and loss of privileges or earnings. Informal controls include inmate transfer to a less desirable facility and those steming from staff knowledge of an proximity to inmates over time. Formal rewards comprise a wide range of privileges, pay, recreation, education, and, for some, parole. Informal rewards encompass a willingness on the part of staff to take time to explain, listen, or find alternative solutions to problems and difficulties. In reality, many of the controls and rewards are embodied in an unwritten contract involving inmates, staff, and management. This unwritten contract provides a momentum toward balance to counteract the fear on all sides of things going out of control. This self-balancing momentum accepts some aspects of the delinquent subculture and elevates mutual support to the first priority. Experiences in this setting indicate that (1) it is better to individualize relationships than provide inmates with unifying issues, (2) respecting inmates and taking one's time pay greater dividends than abusing authority or using force, (3) and consistency and continuity of staff make for greater understanding and an easier normality. Concentration on control is likely to stimulate resistance, while tuning in to inmates' needs reduces the emphasis on control and the need for it. 4 notes and 38 references.