Prisoner Redress: Analysis of an Inmate Grievance Procedure

A procedure for the resolution of inmate grievances at the local level, developed and advocated by the Center for Community Justice, calls for inmate and officer participation in its design, implementation, and operation; specified periods for review and written responses at each level of appeal; and input by persons outside the correctional structure. On-site observations, interviews with correctional administrators, officers, and in mates, and a review of institutional records during the first year of the procedure's operation in several institutions, together with analyses of preimplementation and postimplementation questionnaire responses by inmates and officers, are the basis for (1) recommendations for successful implementation of the procedure, (2) an assessment of the efficiency of the procedure's operation, and (3) an evaluation of the procedure's impact. Finally, the redress of inmate grievances is discussed in terms of social change and social control.