Exercise of Power in Coercive Organizations - A Study of Prison Guards

• NCJ Number: 100388
• Journal: Criminology Volume: 23 Issue: 1 Dated: (February 1985) Pages: 145-164
• Author(s): J R Hepburn
• Date Published: 1985
• Length: 20 pages
• Grant Number(s): 80-NI-AX-0006
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)

Annotation

If the power of prison guards has been altered and reduced by recent social, legal, and bureaucratic intrusions in American prisons, as has been reported by many observers, then what is the base of power by which guards currently exert control over prisoners?

Abstract

Following a discussion of the bases of power in prison, data from a survey of guards in five prisons are examined to determine the extent to which each power base is viewed as a resource to gain prisoner compliance. The results are discussed in terms of the guards' exercise of control within the increasingly bureaucratic structure of coercive organizations. (Publisher abstract)