There are three parts to this essay assignment. Check attachment to access the organizational chart for California’s Department of Corrections (DOC) and Rehabilitation. Second, check attachment for th

Page 251-252

Attached to the warden’s office are (possibly by some other title) an institutional services inspector and the institutional investigator who deal with inmate complaints against staff. As mentioned in the earlier section on central office, prisons also need personnel who deal with labor contracts and the media, and who collect and provide this information to the central office. A computer services manager maintains the management information systems.

Also reporting to the warden are deputy or associate wardens, each of whom supervises a department within the prison. The deputy warden for operations will normally oversee correctional security, unit management, the inmate disciplinary committee, and recreation. This is typically the largest unit in terms of number of employees, as approximately 66 percent of all correctional employees are in the role of correctional officer, line staff, or supervisors in direct contact with inmates.33 The deputy warden for special services will typically be responsible for functions that are more treatment oriented, including the library, mental health services, drug and alcohol recovery services, education, prison job assignments, religious services, and prison industries. Note that a large percentage of federal and state correctional facilities provide inmate work programs (88%), educational programs (85%), and counseling programs (92%).34 Finally, the deputy warden for administration will manage the business office, prison maintenance, laundry, food service, medical services, prison farms, and the issuance of clothing.35

It is important to note that custody and treatment are not either-or in correctional organizations; rather, they are complementary. Although custody overshadows treatment in terms of operational priorities—treatment programs are unable to flourish if security is weak and staff and inmates work and live in chronic fear and danger—prisons without programming options for offenders are nothing more than warehouses, being amenable to violence, disruption, and the continuation of criminally deviant behavior. Correctional staff, regardless of their job function, does not support such volatile conditions. Most often, the overriding concern in a prison or jail is and should be security. Security must be maintained so that programs can be implemented. Programs are generally supported by staff, especially those that address inmate deficiencies such as lack of education and job skills as well as substance abuse. Keep in mind that according to a recent report, only a low percentage of offenders actually receive treatment: just 11 percent of all jail and prison inmates receive the proper level of treatment prescribed by the judiciary.36 Prison administrators must decide which programs they will allow to be introduced into their facility; this is not often an easy task, especially when much of the public perceives that programs only “coddle” inmates.37

Next, we discuss several related aspects—correctional security, unit management, education, and penal industries—in more detail.

The correctional security department supervises all of the security activities within a prison, including any special housing units, inmate transportation, and the inmate disciplinary process. Security staff wear military-style uniforms, a captain normally runs each 8-hour shift, lieutenants often are responsible for an area of the prison, and sergeants oversee the rank-and-file correctional staff. Missteps by this department, in particular, can have dire consequences for officer and prisoner safety and institutional integrity, such as recently when a group of inmates at a Delaware maximum-security prison took several officers hostage and engaged in a standoff with police that lasted several hours.38

The unit management concept originated in the federal prison system in the 1970s and now is used in nearly every state to control prisons by providing a “small, self-contained, inmate living and staff office area that operates semiautonomously within the larger institution.”39 The purpose of unit management is twofold: to decentralize the administration of the prison and to enhance communication among staff and between staff and inmates. Unit management breaks the prison into more manageable sections based on housing assignments; assignment of staff to a particular unit; and staff authority to make decisions, manage the unit, and deal directly with inmates. Units are usually comprised of 200 to 300 inmates; staff are not only assigned to units, but their offices are also located in the housing area, making them more accessible to inmates and better able to monitor inmate activities and behavior. Directly reporting to the unit manager are case managers, or social workers, who develop the program of work and rehabilitation for each inmate and write progress reports for parole authorities, inmate classifications (discussed in Chapter 12), or inmate transfers to another prison. Correctional counselors also work with inmates in the units on daily issues, such as finding a prison job, working with their prison finances, and creating a visiting and telephone list.40

The education department operates the academic teaching, vocational training, library services, and sometimes recreation programs for inmates. An education department is managed similarly to a conventional elementary or high school, with certified teachers for all subjects that are required by the state department of education or are part of the General Education Degree (GED) test. In federal and state prisons, 90 percent of facilities offer formal educational programs, the most common of which is a secondary education or a GED program.41 Vocational training can include carpentry, landscaping or horticulture, food service, and office skills.