ABSTRACT
This chapter examines that an expert knowledge takes a definable form when it is used as the basis for the construction of mandatory prison. In prison, expert knowledge is played out through the relationships among staff and inmates via the dictates of policy. The chapter outlines the particular case of the Missouri department of corrections in its quest to enact discursive discipline through the use of expert knowledge, and the changes it implemented, which spanned the better part of a decade. The department of corrections' move to further align itself with the demands of the public began in 2002 when the state of Missouri implemented a new initiative that called for serious changes in the way the corrections system was managed. It is evident that during multiple stages of the implementation of the Missouri reentry process, the Department of Corrections maintained a commitment to engaging cognitive self-change philosophies and strategies throughout its institutions.
