Fight Club Case Study

Three correction officers created a sadistic secret society on a Rikers Island cellblock, ordering prisoners to extort and beat other inmates. Officers Michael McKie, Khalid Nelson and Denise Albright called their fight club “The Program,” and the teens they recruited as enforcers were called “The Team” (Rayman, 2009). Team members were allowed to extort commissary money, clothing and phone privileges from other city jail inmates. Those who didn’t cooperate when they were asked “are you with it” were beaten and Mr. McKie and Mr. Nelson set the time, place and punishment (Rayman, 2009). I believe that the purpose of this program is for the correctional officers to extort money from other inmates for their own personal gains.

Do I believe that

I believe it is organizational because the correctional officers created this program for their own personal gain to receive money. For exchange of their personal gain they awarded the inmates that were part of the “team” to have privileges such as phones, commissary money, and etc. (Rayman, 2009). This program only worked because it benefited to the inmates and they complied with the orders given by the three correctional officers in charge. Everything was organized because almost every beat down that happened is because if inmate refused to be “with it” then the correctional officers would plan when and how the non-complied inmate to be punished. If I was the new Warden at Rikers Island and this program was going then I would find a way to prevent it. Rayman (2009) stated that Chief of Department Carolyn Thomas and Chief of Facility Operations Patrick Walsh were briefed repeatedly about alarming series of fights, assaults, and serious injuries cause by the gang members. As a Warden, I would see this a warning sign that something is going on in the prison. That there could be a gang initiation taking place because some gangs require a potential member to beat or kill another inmate to be part of the gang. Or a gang war is happening because the attacks are caused by gang members. Both way this would be very alarming and I would order a lockdown to take place. As lockdown protocol the correctional officers will shakedown the inmate’s cell to find any contraband such as: weapons and gang related items. I would then put any inmates involved in causing the attacks to be placed in a separate unit and have the attacks investigated to see why this is