PRISONS, AMERICA'S CONTRIBUTION TO EFFORTS AT COMBATING CRIMINALITY, CAME INTO EXISTENCE IN THE EARLY 19TH CENTURY AND WERE VIEWED AS MECHANISMS FOR REFORMING CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR. WHEN IT BECAME CLEAR THAT THE PENITENTIARY HAD FAILED TO ACHIEVE ITS PURPOSE, REFORMERS ALMOST IMMEDIATELY TRIED TO IMPROVE IT. REFORMATION EFFORTS RESULTED IN THE INDUSTRIAL PRISON, THE EDUCATIONALLY ORIENTED REFORMATORY, AND, MORE RECENTLY, THE REHABILITATIVE PRISON. ALL FAILED TO REDUCE CRIMINALITY. A PARTICIPATORY MANAGEMENT MODEL WOULD SERVE AS AN EFFECTIVE STRUCTURE FOR CORRECTIONAL PROGRAMS OF THE FUTURE. THIS MODEL IS PREMISED ON ASSUMPTIONS CONCERNING THE COMPLEXITY OF CRIMINALITY, THE LIMITED IMPACT ON INMATES OF PRISONS IN TERMS OF REFORMATION, THE CONFLICTING OBJECTIVES ASSIGNED TO PRISONS, REJECTION OF THE MEDICAL MODEL, AND REJECTION OF TOTALITARIANISM. IF INMATES PARTICIPATE IN DECISIONMAKING, THEY WILL TEND TO ACT MORE RESPONSIBLY TOWARD THEMSELVES, OTHERS, AND THE PRISON SOCIETY. WHEN DISCHARGED, THEY WILL ACT MORE RESPONSIBLY IN THE COMMUNITY. SHORT TERM GAINS OF PARTICIPATORY MODEL IMPLEMENTATION INCLUDE ANTICIPATED DECREASE IN INSTITUTIONAL VIOLENCE, FEWER INVOLUNTARY TRANSFERS OF OFFICERS AND INMATES, AND REDUCED TENSION AND HOSTILITY BETWEEN THE STAFF AND INMATES. CASE STUDIES SUPPORT THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE PARTICIPATORY MANAGEMENT MODEL WHICH MOST RESEMBLES A VILLAGE IN STRUCTURAL DESIGN. THE KEY TO EFFECTIVE OPERATION WOULD INVOLVE MAXIMUM USE OF INMATES IN THE PROCESS OF COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT AND CONSTRUCTIVE HUMAN INTERACTIONS BETWEEN STAFF AND INMATES. NOTES ARE INCLUDED IN THE CHAPTER.