A graduated reward system for offenders has prevailed in corrections since 1840 under the arguments that rewards for good conduct provide hope and incentive, empower offenders to manage their futures, and facilitate reintegration. Critics of offender reward systems argue that they are self-serving, induce hypocrisy, tend to be capricious, can be unjust, and endanger offenders' civil rights. Reformers have attempted to meet the criticisms by circumscribing reward decisions with rules, demonstrating inmate-centered concerns, and engendering inmate participation. Many critics, however, seem satisfied only with a regime that involves all offenders putting in their time under just and humane conditions. Rewards systems are particularly important under current conditions of prison overcrowding which require early release. Performance-based criteria are more effective in selecting candidates for release than is an offender's past history. They also encourage resocialization and reinforce the current corrections philosophy of just deserts by rewarding offenders for achievements as well as punishing them for transgressions. 18 footnotes.