Most prisons today are facing a serious space crisis, are overcrowded and short staffed. Inmates are being double and triple bunked and every square foot of available space is used for something. Despite chronic space and security shortages many conventional treatment programs expect prisons to create artificial islands within the prison unit on which they can operate distinct from the masses. This is often expected despite the fact that prisons throughout the U.S. are understaffed and under-funded. The provision of such accommodation often proves extremely expensive, inconvenient, space intensive and periodically a threat to the security of the institution. Realistic prison programs must be designed to conform to the Spartan operating conditions within current correctional environments with a capacity to not only survive long term, but to thrive within these harsh and tumultuous environments.

Since it is unlikely that the manner in which prisons are operated will change drastically any time soon, it is incumbent upon the developers of future correctional programs to take into account the reality of prison environments and operation to design program prototypes to accommodate correctional environments. Program developers cannot go on expecting inadequately funded and understaffed prison units to change their mode of operation to accommodate programs. Many programs are simply killed by prison administration simply because they do not fit in.

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