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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 2