This study examines the impact of participation in an inmate self-government program
at the Washington State maximum security prison on changes in the following atti
tudinal dimensions of social responsibility: self-esteem, self-competence, acceptance of
others, and acceptance of law and authority. The evaluation utilizes a pretest-post-
test design involving a stratified random sample of 173 male inmates. The data reveal
that participation consistently fostered a more positive sense of social responsibility
while such attitudes deteriorate among the nonparticipant group, especially acceptance
of law and authority Controls for demographic and sentence characteristic variables did
not alter the original relationship between participation and attitude change.
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