Originally from Dispute Resolution Journal

INTRODUCTION

Communications perform an important function in an industrial society where working harmony requires exchanges of information between employer and worker. One of the ways in which this communication is promoted is a grievance procedure through which differences are resolved.

Communications are important similarly in correctional institutions. The inmate seeks external communication with society and its agents who are responsible for his or her conditions of existence. The communications medium is usually the inmate's attorney. The inmate seeks internal communications with those persons responsible directly for his or her daily life, i.e., prison administrators, correctional officers, etc. These two forms of communication are important to the efficient and just—as well as peaceful—operation of the institution. They provide the inmate with procedures to ensure that his or her rights are protected and that his or her conditions of existence conform to legislative and judicial requirements.