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9 Crim. Just. Pol'y Rev. 5 (1998-1999)

handle is hein.journals/cjpr9 and id is 1 raw text is: CJPR, Vol 9. No. 1/98, pp. 5-11 ŠIUP Editorial Introduction: The Evolution of the Concepts Correctional Organization and Organizational Change Rosemary L. Gido, Guest Editor Indiana University of Pennsylvania The five papers in this special issue of the Criminal Justice Policy Review focus on the concepts of correctional organization and organiza- tional change and reflect a sampling of theoretical and research efforts to understand these concepts at the micro and macro policy level. Each arti- cle links us to definitions, studies, and debates that have evolved over the last forty years in criminology and criminal justice centering on the idea of the organization as a system. The system theme in the papers includes the conceptualization of the prison as a complex social system, theory and research on correctional and criminal justice system change, and the application of systems management principles to the improve- ment of correctional/criminal justice agency operations. The Structural Functional Perspective: The Prison Organization As A Social System One is always struck by the discovery of old wine in new bottles in reviewing the historical evolution of a concept. The concepts of organi- zation and system are fairly synonymous in contemporary scholarly and public discourse regarding correctional and criminal justice processes (Klofas, et al., 1990) and reflect the influence of a number of significant traditions. Clearly, the structural-functional perspective on the prison as summa- rized by the Conference Group on Correctional Organization in 1956 and 1957 (Cloward, et al., 1960) conceptualized the total organizational con- text of the prison as a complex social system. Research and theory cen- tered on 1 ) the social structure of the prison as a whole, and 2) the ways in which beliefs, norms, and behavior of both inmates and guards func-