Do inmates work ?
More than half of the respondents of both surveys (56.2%/51.0%) know that inmates must work in prison, and even when told that most inmates are not paid for the work they perform, most 95.9%/96.3% still approve of inmates working in prison. (Only inmates on work release and those who work for Prison Rehabilitative Industries and Diversified Enterprises (PRIDE) are paid wages. Their employers, not the state, pay those on work release.) Seventy-eight percent of the inmates in prison in Florida on the last day of the fiscal year (June 30, 1997) worked, participated in programs such as vocational or academic classes or substance abuse treatment classes, or a combination of work and programs. The remaining 23 percent were either located at private prisons, were either physically unable to work, were going through the reception and orientation process or were in some type of confinement for management purposes, including death row. The following highlights some of the types of work Florida p
