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47 Prison J. 2 (1967)

handle is hein.journals/prsjrnl47 and id is 1 raw text is: 







                      EDITORIAL


     It might be said that the mainspring of rehabilitation is the motiva-
tion of the offender to become  a changed  person, to achieve a better
way  of life. Motivating prisoners by  correctional personnel may  be
haphazard  or even unconscious. On  the other hand, it may be planned,
carefully developed and eventually systematized with the use of clearly
identified incentives. The focus of this issue is the systematizing of the
incentives of programs, practices and procedures  whereby  inmates  of
institutions are motivated.
     Warden  John  D.  Case, author of Incentives in a County  Prison,
sets forth three sound premises upon which incentive systems are estab-
lished in his institution. He describes the incentives that operate as
part of each of the jail programs. The polling of inmate reaction to his
article elicited several interesting responses, and the gist of the matter
for both prisoners and the warden-author is that incentive centers around
the concept of trust. Had  the author refined the meaning of trust, he
might  well have spoken  of motivation  in terms of the imposition  of
various degrees of responsibility upon the inmate, in accordance with
the prisoner's needs and ability for self-development. Apparently this
prison program  has moved  from the traditional threat and imposition of
negative reinforcers toward what social psychology has shown to be more
effective, the withholding or threat of withholding of positive reinforcers.
     Daniel Glaser  discusses the psychological principles of incentive
motivation  and their sociological application. His article, Incentives
Motivating Prisoner Behavior, describes the traditional shaping of pris-
oner behavior by the mortification process, successful mostly in estab-
lishing conformity to rigid prison routine. The author  contrasts with
this a half dozen incentives of the collaborative prison, his label for
the opposite of the traditional prison. We might term this a pattern for
prisoner progress toward parole. He concludes that the prison adminis-
trator of the collaborative model can attain both objectives of good
order  and greater self-sufficiency by the released prisoner in a non-
criminal post-release life. The  substance of this presentation might
suggest a part of a manual of correctional practices.
     Problems  and Prospects in the Use of Prison Inmates for Medical
Experimentation,  by Melvin  S. Heller, discusses a complex  situation
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