Sustained prison lockdowns: Explaining carceral control decisions using the garbage can model of organizational choice

Abstract

Prisons and jails are organizations, yet scholars rarely use organizational theories to understand carceral phenomena. Using Cohen and colleagues’ (1972) seminal work, “A Garbage Can Model of Organizational Choice,” prisons and jails can be viewed as “organized anarchies” where staff make choices divorced from reality, causality, and intentionality. Carceral institutions exemplify organized anarchies with their conflicting and ambiguous goals, unclear policies and limited managerial oversight, and high levels of turnover and understaffing. Here, staff make choices in chaotic environments. To demonstrate carceral institutions are organized anarchies where staff make choices using the garbage can model, we use the implementation of sustained lockdowns during and after COVID-19 as an example. Drawing on in-depth interview data, this article provides analysis and findings from 447 residents and 183 staff in eight prisons and five jails in the United States. Implications for this work focus on understanding carceral decision-making and then considering ways to improve it.