Apart from national and international model standards and rules, reasons for having an administrative grievance mechanism in prisons include the following: assist prison management in identifying problem areas, take care of small problems without calling for outside attention, give inmates a sense of fairness and justice in their dealings with authorities, increase prospects for inmate rehabilitation, reduce the volume of inmate litigation, reduce violence by reducing prisoners' frustration and anger over perceived mistreatment, provide a written record of review, and identify areas of concern for use by correctional policymakers. There are basically two kinds of grievance systems, grievance procedures which rely primarily on outside agents and grievance procedures based on internal mechanisms. Outside grievance procedures include the use of an ombudsman, grievance committees, arbitrators and mediators, and legal assistance. Internal mechanisms are characterized by review and decision activity within the corrections department itself. The grievance system of the U.S. Bureau of Prisons is described, along with Federal legislation on inmate complaints and grievances. State experience with grievance mechanisms is also discussed. Appendixes provide supplemental information on the Federal prison system's administrative remedy procedure for inmates. 8 notes