NCJ Number
129949
Journal
New England Journal on Criminal and Civil Confinement Volume: 16 Issue: 2 Dated: (Summer 1990) Pages: 221-240
Date Published
1990
Length
20 pages
Annotation
Inmate democratic unions are discussed in terms of their documented and potential contributions to both the rehabilitation of inmates and the effective operation of correctional institutions through the use of formal collective bargaining.
Abstract
Theories developed by early penologists and social penologists emphasized that involving inmates in organizations focusing on self-government would promote conditions for rehabilitation and develop individual inmates' respect for responsibility, order, and discipline. In recent years several union models emerged in both Europe and the United States. The most successful and enduring models occurred in Denmark and Sweden and have documented several rehabilitative benefits. In the United States unions have met with resistance, mostly in the form of legal challenges. Potential benefits include positive attitude changes in individual inmates; the establishment of decent wages, workers' compensation, and safer working conditions; the reduction of violence as a means for redress of grievances; and the provision of an ongoing conflict-resolution mechanism. Thus, unions might help resolve the contradictions in our current penal system, in which society is not protected due to the lack of offender rehabilitation. 82 footnotes