ABSTRACT
IN any bureaucratic organization there exists a model or 'ideal type' which represents the normative pattern of behaviour. In Pentonville this normative pattern derives directly from the Prison Rules and from Standing Orders, but for the model to be fully operative the staff must (a) be aware of the rules, (b) be consistent in applying them, and (c) be distributed in sufficient number. The pressure of prison population, changes in and shortages of staff, and the recurrence of ever-present, if minor, administrative crises modify the model appreciably until it becomes, like almost all organizational structures, a working compromise.
