Using Multiple Perspectives to Develop Strategies for Managing Long-Term Inmates

Using Multiple Perspectives to Develop Strategies for Managing Long-Term Inmates

Growth in the long-term inmate population continues to be a major concern for correctional managers throughout the United States. This concern is fueled by speculation about the gravity of problems and consequences resulting from increasing numbers of inmates being sentenced to prison for long periods of time. Among the most disturbing scenarios envisioned by experts is the emergence of a large, disgruntled, and potentially violent group of inmates with special management needs that cannot be met by correctional systems (Flanagan, 1985; Unger & Buchanan, 1985; Williamson, 1985).

Indeed, there is a large and expanding body of information about the problems associated with long-term incarceration and growth in the long-term offender (LTO) population. Researchers have identified numerous effects that are likely to arise including inmate boredom and monotony, lack of meaningful work opportunities, breaks in family and community ties, loss of privacy, geriatric-related health care needs, and verbal and physical friction among inmates and guards (Flanagan, 1982; Walker, 1983). They have also recommended a variety of programs and approaches for responding to these problems, some of which involve creating long-term prison career opportunities, redesigning physical plants, and sentence planning for the long-termer (Flanagan, 1985; Palmer, 1984, 1985).

Although this information is useful for understanding LTO confinement problems, more is needed to support the development of productive strategies for managing long-termers. In particular, there is a need for more concrete data pertaining to how key stakeholders in the correctional environment perceive the problems of long-term confinement. There is also a need for more planning technology that helps correctional administrators organize thinking and information about LTO problems in ways that facilitate the development of practical LTO management strategies. As noted by management scientists, the term technology has [Page 198]such strong engineering connotations that it should be redefined when used in the context of policy planning and analysis (Mitroff, Barabba, & Kilmann, 1977). By planning technology we mean a set of methods, procedures, or exercises that helps correctional administrators to identify problematic situations related to long-term confinement, examine assumptions held by stakeholders about these problematic situations, and then design interventions that are responsive to them.

AUTHORS' NOTE: This chapter is based on research supported by grant 84-IJ-CX-0043 from the National Institute of Justice. Opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the National Institute of Justice or the U.S. Department of Justice. NOTE: This is a revised version of an article that was originally published in The Prison Journal, Vol. 80, No. 1, Spring/Summer 1990, pp. 58–72. Copyright 1990 by Sage Publications, Inc.

In this chapter we argue that information on the perceptions and values held by correctional stakeholders, such as long-termers and corrections officers, can be put to practical use when designing operational strategies for improving the management of long-termers. The argument is presented by means of example, drawing on the authors' experiences with a project to design and implement programs for handling long-term offenders in Missouri's correctional system. The project, hereafter known as The Missouri Project, began in the fall of 1985 and ended in the spring of 1989. Although much of the project involved implementing exploratory programs for managing LTOs, this chapter focuses on the problem structuring methodology that guided the project and led to the selection of the exploratory programs. The exploratory programs that were eventually implemented in Missouri's correctional system are the subject of the companion chapter that follows this one.

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