A COMPLAINT COMMONLY HEARD IS THAT THE CORRECTIONAL ADMINISTRATOR'S ABILITY TO OPERATE A SAFE AND EFFECTIVE INSTITUTION HAS BEEN IMPAIRED BY A COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT. ON THE OTHER HAND, EMPLOYEE GROUPS STRESS THAT COLLECTIVE BARGAINING HAS RESULTED IN MORE EQUITABLE PAYMENT TO CORRECTIONAL PERSONNEL FOR SERVICES RENDERED AND IN A DECREASE IN THE NUMBER OF ARBITRARY MANAGERIAL DECISIONS. THIS REPORT EXAMINES THE ORIGIN, NATURE, EXTENT, AND IMPACT OF CORRECTIONAL EMPLOYEE UNIONISM. STUDY DATA WERE OBTAINED PRIMARILY THROUGH A FIELD STUDY OF 16 STATE PRISON SYSTEMS AND ONE CITY SYSTEM, CHOSEN TO REPRESENT A CROSS-SECTION OF VARIOUS GEOGRAPHIC LOCATIONS, STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT IN CORRECTIONAL EMPLOYEE UNIONISM, AND STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT IN COLLECTIVE BARGAINING. FOR THE MOST PART, THE FIELD RESEARCH TOOK PLACE BETWEEN OCTOBER 1975 AND FEBRUARY 1976. THE STATE OF AMERICAN CORRECTIONS, THE RISE OF CORRECTIONAL EMPLOYEE UNIONISM, THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR CORRECTIONAL EMPLOYMENT LABOR RELATIONS, COLLECTIVE BARGAINING FOR CORRECTIONAL EMPLOYEES, THE IMPACT OF CONTRACT PROVISIONS, AND CORRECTIONAL EMPLOYEE ACTIVISM WERE ALL INVESTIGATED. BASED ON SURVEY FINDINGS, IT IS CONCLUDED THAT WHILE THE INCREASING INFLUENCE OF PUBLIC EMPLOYEE ORGANIZATIONS HAS LED TO MUCH-NEEDED IMPROVEMENTS IN THE EMPLOYEES' ECONOMIC BENEFITS AND WORKING CONDITIONS, NOT ALL THE CHANGES BROUGHT ABOUT BY THE EMPLOYEE ORGANIZATIONS HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO THE EFFICIENT OPERATION OF STATE CORRECTIONAL SYSTEMS OR TO THE EFFECTIVENESS OF CORRECTIONAL PROGRAMS. THE EMPLOYEE GROUPS - ESPECIALLY THE GROUPS COMPOSED OF CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS - HAVE SOMETIMES USED THEIR POWER IN WAYS THAT HAVE HINDERED THE IMPROVEMENT OF CORRECTIONAL PROGRAMS. FOR A LATER, BRIEFER DISCUSSION BY THE SAME AUTHOR, SEE NCJ 55854. FOR A RELATED DOCUMENT, SEE NCJ-41473.