NCJ Number
126260
Date Published
1991
Length
17 pages
Annotation
The thrust of the essay is that the present American maximum security prison bears little resemblance to the traditional sociological analyses of prison. Instead, the modern prison is more a corporate entity in its organization and structure, in its management style, in its goals of cost efficiency and effectiveness, in its architectural design, and in the use of high technology.
Abstract
The essay describes and contrasts the last major prison riot in the United States, the savage "blowout" in the New Mexico State Prison in 1980 with the last political and ideologically rooted riot, the Attica revolt and analyzes four prison riot epidemics in this century. It concludes with what the prisons of the future should be like. Four goals are listed for all prisons to follow to ease the problems which caused the prison riots; prisons must be lawful in policy and practice, safe, industrious, and even positive in outlook. 43 references.