The Assessment Unit has four primary functions: to collate and summarize relevant information about each inmate, to screen out those unsuitable for treatment, to induct inmates into the regime by slowly weaning them from traditional prison subculture and exposing them to alternative ways of relating to staff and other inmates, and to coordinate all receptions and transfers and randomly allocate inmates to the treatment wings when vacancies occur. The Assessment Unit is the first step into an environment where the rules of prison have been changed. The "no violence" rule ensures that anyone doing violence to another person will be expelled from the unit. The Assessment Unit provides an environment in which all would- be Grendon residents have the opportunity to display their ability to cope with the freedoms of personal choice and the potential to change their behavior. The only request that the staff make of the new residents is that they respect the fact that each resident has expressed the desire to change. This theme of acceptance is reinforced within the assessment groups that meet three times a week. Residents remain unlocked all day and evening; their room doors remain open, and they are free to talk to whomever they wish and amuse themselves in whatever way they desire. In the context of such a regime, there are three assessment group meetings a week, two community meetings, formal testing, and interviews. The unit residents manage food distribution, cleaning duties, disputes, and the orientation of new residents. 10 references