As the number of offenders has grown over the past several years, so too has the number of inmates classified as violent. The crowding in high security institutions continues as inmates who are young and serving lengthy sentences act out aggressively and thus require greater security for longer periods of time. By means of assessment, violent offenders can be divided into three subgroups: (1) inmates who have learned to be violent; (2) inmates who cannot regulate their violence because of mental disabilities; and (3) inmates who are violent and have severe personality disorders. By sorting violent offenders into these groups, appropriate corrections strategies can be introduced. This conceptual scheme is designed to focus on decision making in correctional settings to manage aggressive or disruptive inmates; the article does not argue in support of any particular assessment instruments or recommend any specific programming approaches or treatment intervention strategies. References