Inmate Classification as a Transaction

• DOI: 10.1177/009385488100800101
• Published date: 01 March 1981
• Author: Hans Toch
• Date: 01 March 1981
• Subject Matter: Articles

3

INMATE

CLASSIFICATION

AS

A

TRANSACTION

HANS

TOCH

State

University

of

New

York

at

Albany

A

problem

with

classification

in

prisons

is

that

of

disjunctures

between

recommendations

based

on

classification

data

and

the

process

whereby

inmate

assignments

are

made.

This

problem

is

aggravated

by

crowding,

which

limits

differential

assignment

to

extreme

cases,

such

as

inmates

who

have

trouble

surviving.

Forging

classification-assignment

links

presupposes

communication

among

staff

who

successively

deal

with

each

inmate;

classification

recommendations

must

also

be

program-relevant

and

flexibly

updated

to

take

adjustment

data

into

account.

Nonclassification

staff

and

inmates

must

have

input

into

classification

decisions.

If

possible,

this

input

should

be

collaborative.

Information

exchange

among

staff

runs

into

a

concern

with

"confidentiality."

Where

classifiers

protect

confidentiality,

they

risk

having

recommendations

ignored

or

circumvented.

They

also

run

this

risk

if

they

view

classification

as

an

autonomous

process

or

function.

leven

years

ago,

in

one

of

the

symposium

papers

I

deliver

at

E ten- Y ear

intervals,

I

talked

about

&dquo;classifying

violent

peo-

ple&dquo;

(Toch,

1970).

At

the

same

time,

I

suggested

that

it

doesn’t

matter

what

classifications

we

use

as

an

aid

to

our

thinking-in-

cluding

my

classifications

and

my

thinking-but

that

I

see

prob-

lems

arising

where

categorizations

&dquo;lead

to

sorting

and

disposi-

tions.&dquo;

I

worry

about

sorting-assignment

problems

today

as

I

did

in

1969,

although

I

know

that

classifications

have

fewer

conse-

quences

now

than

they

did

a

decade

ago.

What

I

mean

is

that

fewer

dispositions

in

life

(including

in

correctional

life)

are

based

Author’s

Note:

This

article

was

adapted

from

a

presentation

at

the

annual

convention

of

the

American

Psychological

Association,

Montreal,

Canada,

September

1,

1980.