The Penitentiary of New Mexico experienced dramatic shifts in levels of coercion and social support from 1956 to 1980. The organizational history of the Penitentiary of New Mexico has been largely documented through materials collected during the official investigation of the 1980 riot and subsequent research on its history. A historical narrative is presented and taken from official transcripts of interviews conducted by the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office during its investigation of the 1980 riot. Four periods of time are examined: authoritarian regime and repressive coexistence (1956 to 1967), the revolution of hope and positive change (1968 to 1972); the era of frustration and diminishing hope (1972 to June 1976); and the era of brutality, fear and loathing, disorganization, and disorder (June 1976 to 1980). The organizational dynamics described in these time periods can be understood in the context of the interplay between coercion and social support that differed in each period. Some lessons for prison management can be taken from this organizational history. This article outlines the dominant characteristics of each period and how these characteristics affected disorder and consent and discusses policy implications for sound prison management to produce both order within prisons and ex-offenders better prepared for law-abiding lives. Differential coercion and social support (DCSS) theory is viewed as having great utility beyond understanding individual criminal behavior as it provides a cogent framework for understanding organizational dynamics in prisons. Figures, references