ABSTRACT
The wake-up call identifying the need for prison crisis negotiation teams was the September 1971 disaster at Attica. This chapter provides institutional negotiators with a listing of some dynamics that have been associated with prison and jail hostage sieges. More negotiations go on between correctional staff and inmates than could ever be captured statistically. On the positive side, it is this interaction that alerts staff to potential problems and provides first-hand intelligence and experience for everyone. The chapter argues that most inmates in a county jail or state prison, by definition, have an Antisocial Personality Disorder. The inmates had gone so far as to cut a hole in the fence before local law enforcement and prison staff forced them back into Alpha Unit, where they held several staff members hostage. Institutional staff are always mindful of the potential for being taken hostage.
