CHAPTER 11
The Administration of Corrections Programs
Learning Objectives

To help you understand the concepts of administration and management

To illustrate to you different leadership styles

To examine the types of issues faced by correctional administrators

To explain to you the complexities of managing inmates

To introduce you to the role of ethics in correctional management
Chapter Outline
I.
Administration and Management
A. Administration—the act of supervising or managing an office or an organization
B. Management—using organizational resources to achieve specific goals
C. Why Study Administration and Management?
1. According to Cohn most failures in corrections programs are not the product of
inadequate programming or underdeveloped philosophy but are due to inadequate
management and leadership
D. Managing Inmates and Managing Staff
1. Inmate Management—the form of institutions, programming efforts and discipline
2. Organizational management—concerned with keeping the various institutional and
agency functions operating efficiently
3. Most common tasks of correctional administrators—finance and personnel
II.
Overview of Bureaucracy
A. Bureaucracy—a structure that assigns individuals specific authority and responsibilities
according to their position in a predetermined hierarchy
B. Standards of conduct are key to the operation
C. Standardization gives the organization its stability
D. Standards of conduct often overlook that employees are people
III.
Leadership Styles
A. Authoritarian leader—gives orders and is concerned with productivity
1. The boss
2. Expects subordinates to do as they are instructed
B. Laissez-faire leader—an administrator who gives little or no direction to subordinates
C. Democratic leader—communicates through explanation and elaboration rather than orders
1. Viewed as the first among equals
2. Workers recognize their organizational roles and understand what is expected of
them
D. Bureaucratic leader—rule oriented and tends to lead from the top down
1. Rule oriented
2. Tends to lead from the top down
E. Technocractic leader—manager who has achieved their position based on some area of
expertise
F. Idiosyncratic leader—a little laissez-faire but mostly autocratic
1. Likely to work over, under, around, and through the hierarchy by exerting direct
contact and control over decision making
G. Participative leader—much like the democratic leader
1. More group oriented than autocratic or bureaucratic leaders
2. Frequently have informal contacts with employees under their direction
3. Chief weakness is they dislike conflict to the extent of almost avoiding it at all costs
IV.
Issues Facing Corrections Managers
A. Managing Budgets, Managing Personnel: The Scope of Managerial Duties and
Responsibilities
1. Fiscal year 2010 approximately $51.1 billion spent for corrections
2. Some states do not include juvenile offenders in their corrections budgets
3. In year 2011, the US Census Bureau reported 462,549 full-time state employees
working in corrections with an annual payroll of $1.92 billion
4. Additionally, the US Bureau of Prisons employed 38,500 people
5. 234,000 work in local jails
B. Who Manages? The Characteristics of Corrections Managers
1. Most of history, corrections have been closed systems—not open to public scrutiny
and promotions have come from within
2. The status of corrections managers has reflected the traditionally low qualification
levels required for work in corrections
3. However, all probation and parole administrators have at least a bachelor’s degree
4. Political patronage—most influential factor—state corrections commissions and
wardens were political appointees
C. Corrections Administrators’ Backgrounds
1. Promoted from within
a. Limited learning curve to become familiar with new responsibilities
b. Limited exposure to different ways of thinking and doing
2. Individual with public administration experience
D. Centralization versus Decentralization
1. Centralization—concentration of power in one location
a. Historically the method that states operated their corrections systems
2. Move to decentralization
a. Unit management—creates prisons within prisons
b. Allows for more personal inmate contact and greater decentralization of
decision making for most routine matters
V.
Modern Management Tasks
A. Recruiting and Retaining Staff
1. Recruitment—key function performed by corrections administrators
2. Retention—attention must be paid to employee turnover and morale
B. Dealing with Employee Unions
1. Unionization effects administrators in that they cannot simply enact policy changes
C. Building and Remodeling Facilities
1. Involves the construction of prisons and jails and other correctional agencies
2. Site selection, building design, and construction
D. Managing Inmate Populations
1. Institutional crowding is a problem for managers
2. Community-based programs are faced with the problem of controlling caseloads
E. Containing Costs
1. All corrections managers have to be concerned with costs
2. Medical costs for inmates drive up costs
F. Dealing with the Courts
1. Almost every corrections commissioner ends up a part of a lawsuit
2. Time has to be taken to deal with lawsuits
VI.
Inmate Management
A. Correctional managers must manage employees as well as inmates or clients
B. Some managers assume that inmates are obstinate, uncooperative, and resistant to change
1. McGregor’s (1960) Theory X management
C. Other managers view inmates as adults that respond to the level of responsibility expected of
them
D. Newbold, a criminologist maintained:
1. As the level of threat from administration to inmates decreases, the tension among
inmates decreases
2. Peace among management and inmates makes for a simpler place to live
VII.
Trends in Correctional Management
A. The Development of Technology
1. Computer
2. Other technological methods that assist in managing inmates and clients
B. The Advent of Total Quality Management (TQM)
1. TQM—widely applied in US businesses
a. Demands that clients be considered consumers and that the agency develops
a strong consumer orientation
b. Problems with TQM for Corrections
i.
Correctional systems exhibit a tendency to do things the way they
have always been done
ii.
Further, who exactly is the consumer?
C. Restructuring Government
1. All government agencies are faced with being restructured or reinvented
2. Agencies are expected to do more with less
3. McShane and Williams (1993) recommend for correctional managers:
i. Agencies should not be promoting from within
ii. Managers need to be adaptable and adaptive
iii. Managers should monitor employee morale and resignation reasons
iv. Duties and responsibilities should be equal for those doing shift-work
v. Unit management and direct supervision should receive serious consideration
vi. Managers should plan for changes in management style or organizational
structure
vii. Administrators should be looking for ways to enrich and enlarge the jobs of all
corrections employees
viii. Corrections managers should be involved in community activities
ix. Managers should become active consumers of management research
x. Corrections agencies should move beyond the nine-to-five mentality
D. Administrative Professionalization
1. Ongoing movement toward professionalization in corrections
VIII.
Administrative Ethics
A. Conflicts of interest
1. Administrators must not use their position to obtain personal privileges or advantages
2. Not let their personal feelings negatively affect their objectivity in their duties
3. Scrupulously avoid any arrangements that result in a conflict of interest
4. Not accept gifts from inmates or clients, their families or others who do business with
the agency
B. Fairness and equity
1. Must be fair when dealing with promotions, transfers, disciplinary actions in regards
to race, gender, age, religious affiliation, or other legally protected category
2. Nepotism—when family connections of who gets employed and/or promoted
3. Sexual harassment
References
DiIulio, John J., Jr. 1987. Governing prisons: A comparative study of correctional management. New
York: Free Press.
DiIulio, John J., Jr. 1994. The evolution of executive management in the Federal Bureau of Prisons. In
Escaping prison myths, edited by John W. Roberts. Washington, DC: American University Press,
195–74.McGregor, Douglas. 1960. The human side of enterprise. New York: McGraw-Hill.
McShane, Marilyn D., and Frank P. Williams III. 1993. The management of correctional institutions.
New York: Garland.
Newbold, Greg. 1992. What works in prison management: Effects of administrative change in New
Zealand. Federal Probation 56(4): 53–57.
Key Terms
administration—the act of supervising or managing an office or an organization
authoritarian leader—gives orders and is concerned with productivity
bureaucracy—a structure that assigns individuals specific authority and responsibilities according to their
position in a predetermined hierarchy
bureaucratic leader—rule oriented and tends to lead from the top down
democratic leader—communicates through explanation and elaboration rather than by orders
idiosyncratic leader—likely to work over, under, around, and through the hierarchy by exerting direct
contact and control over decision making
laissez-faire leader—an administrator who provides little or no direction to subordinates
management—using organizational resources to achieve specific goals
nepotism—family connections as to who gets employed and eventually gets promoted into certain
positions
participative leader—more group oriented than autocratic or bureaucratic leaders; frequently have
informal contact with employees under their direction
political patronage—most of the twentieth century, state corrections commissioners and wardens were
political appointees which affects the stature of the corrections administration
technocratic leader—manager who has achieved their position based on some area of expertise
total quality management (TQM)—demands that agencies develop a strong consumer orientation
unit management—creates prisons within prisons by allowing more personal inmate contact and greater
decentralization of decision making for most routine matters
Chapter Summary
After reading this chapter, even the casual student of administration should recognize that
corrections positions, especially those in prisons and jails, are much more interdependent than
many law enforcement jobs. The key points presented in this chapter are:

In some ways, probation and parole officers working in the field resemble the police
in their operations.

By contrast, prisons and jails are institutions where functions are more integrated,
which means they need a more-coordinated or team approach to accomplishing their
goals.

There is much closer supervision of jail and prison employees than there is of their
law enforcement counterparts. Therefore, correctional officers typically enjoy less
discretion than police officers.

Although we have talked about ideal management types, we should not assume that
any type occurs in its purest form or that one management type is necessarily
preferable to another.

Bureaucratic management and the bureaucratic leadership style are still prevalent in
corrections. Although this approach may diminish, it is not likely to disappear.

Various factors are causing changes in corrections management. We should see more
democratic and participatory management styles as the bureaucratic approach
becomes less popular.

Two factors that have influenced corrections management during the past 30 years
are increasing concerns regarding ethical issues and an expanded emphasis on
professionalization.
Discussion Topics
1. Compare and contrast administration and management. What are the two types of management in
the operation of a criminal justice agency? How do they differ?
2. Describe the various types of leaders. Which leadership style or styles is most effective in the
operation of a criminal justice organization?
3. What is Total Quality Management? How is it being applied to criminal justice organizations? Is
it applicable?
Web Activities
1. Go to a university library and find a journal article on managing a prison or jail. Review the article and
write an essay comparing it with the management theories discussed in the chapter.
2. Watch the YouTube video: Prison: Santa Rosa Correctional Institute, Flo. Ext Stay
Use this video to generate a class discussion, an online discussion board, or a paper regarding the
management of this prison and its inmates.
3. Read the article Efficient, Effective and Evidence-Based: Unit Management with Corrections
Corporation of America
Use it to argue the pros and cons of management theories in regards to unit management.