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Invention of Direct Supervision

NCJ Number
209322
Journal
Corrections Compendium Volume: 30 Issue: 2 Dated: March/April 2005 Pages: 4-7,32,34
Author(s)
Richard Wener
Date Published
March 2005
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This article reviews the historical context surrounding the invention of direct supervision Federal correctional institutions.
Abstract
In 1974, three Federal correctional facilities opened in New York, Chicago, and San Diego that boasted the first correctional design to utilize a direct supervision model. While the literature explains the principles of direct supervision, there is little explanation of the historical roots of this correctional management model. This article explores the historical context from which the concept of direct management emerged. In the early 1960's there was a push from the U.S. Attorney General to develop innovative correctional programs and facilities, which led to a series of changes and innovations in corrections through the early 1970's. Among other important changes was the evolution of prison “guards” into “correctional officers” representing an important shift in the role of the correctional officer as increasingly that of counselor. Another change paramount to the invention of direct supervision was the willingness of the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to take correctional officers out of control rooms and place them in the living area with inmates. While State and county facilities were more hesitant to take this approach, the increasing use of this type of supervision in Federal prisons acted as a stepping stone to the invention of the direct supervision model. The functional management unit, an operational system that decentralized management and reduced the scale of the inmate population by dividing it into smaller units, was also employed by the BOP and was considered an important innovation in correctional management. Normalized environments that utilized noninstitutional fixtures, furnishings, and materials also signaled a different type of correctional management, in which environmental psychology was used to encourage positive behavioral changes in inmates. While the Federal correctional facilities that opened under the direct supervision concept in 1974 were clearly successful, they were not immediately embraced. Yet, they remain humane and effective correctional systems. Endnotes, references