To assess prisoner awareness of Boards of Visitors and their roles and duties, interviews were conducted with a sample of 140 adult male inmates at a training prison. About 95 percent of inmates had heard of Boards of Visitors. Most information about Boards was acquired anecdotally, and about 55 percent of inmates knew that Board duties included inspection, attention to inmate welfare, and dealing with grievances. Many inmates, however, doubted that Board duties were accomplished effectively. Further, many inmates knew virtually nothing about Board composition and did not recognize the Boards as being independent. Despite the withdrawal of the Boards' disciplinary powers, inmates still regarded them as largely invisible, irrelevant, aligned with prison management, and ineffective. 8 references