Controlled Chaos

 

There appears to be a method to the madness within the Arizona Department of Corrections today. This is based on the fact that no matter how much evidence is released regarding agency flaws and shortcomings, the administration at the top refuses to change, alter or re-direct their efforts to comply with public pressure and compliance with the rules of law.

It appears they would rather face mass litigation and expensive lawsuits than improving their own manner of incarceration and those associated custodial responsibilities outlined within their own policies and procedures. It is this challenge that gives them purpose and direction in this environment of controlled chaos and warfare.

Thus it is interesting how this strategy of organizational warfare against the media, the public and those families of those persons incarcerated is being waged by one man and one man alone. These methods are clearly outlined in pre-existing strategies that have come to light and outline final goals.

Up to this point the strategy has been clear by those paying attention to the lingering disease of flawed performance and noncompliance with rules of law. These men in control have created a chain of command where those appointed in uncovered positions follow their lead but constrained by influence and fear of retaliation.

They have acquired this false sense of loyalty by the way the administration created a false sense of participation in all matters at hand but never allowing a “groupthink” product to develop independently without just cause or permission at the top.

It is obvious they have used a divide and conquers strategy through the process of segmenting their forces and / or employees. This allows opportunities to make quick decisions and avoid resistance by the internal culture as they have accomplished breaking the entire agency into smaller micro sized groups that pretend they can run or operate on their own but are in all actually totally dependent upon command from above.

They do this to give them a false sense of positive spirit [morale] so that they will continue to work hard to accomplish and operate the command directives but on paper and communiqués they appear to be acting on it alone or with the authority to do so independently.

This strategy is a pure deflection of will power and responsibility / accountability in case it has a blow back effect and liability / plausible deniability becomes an issue. It also gives the group more time to think about themselves rather than the leader and more about the group’s mission and needs.

Since the director has pitted the agency against the media, the public or incarcerated persons inquiring, he has started a war against them and turning it into a crusade with the identification of them [the media, public and families] being the “enemy” and make them see that to beat this enemy is survival to the mission and success of their goals.

So how did they persuade subordinates into fighting this war against this “enemy?” They used the traditional elements of war to establish control while creating chaos along the way.

 Strategies –

They declared war on the media, the public and the families of incarcerated persons identifying them as the enemy –

 

1. Use the turmoil and serious incidents to fuel energy against losing presence of mind and purpose of this fight keeping the employees in line and controlled.
2. Create a sense of urgency and a “use versus them” ideology to keep them focused on the “enemy” and not internal issues that might come up during this chaos.
3. Turn this into a crusade to make them think less about themselves and think more of the agency or groups involved with.
4. Separate and divide employees into smaller groups e.g. unions, geographical representation, etc so they are easier to control.
5. Trade space for time ~ avoid attacking or counter attacking the enemy by playing passive games of political correctness and limited dissemination of information.
6. Lose battles but not the war – give small concessions but never relinquish control.
7. Control the dynamics – press releases and limit information that reveals internal control mechanisms.  
8. Control the blame factor – sacrifice those below to satisfy the craving for justice through the employee disciplinary process showing zero tolerance to mistakes.
9. Negotiate for change while advancing your ideologies in secret and out of sight.
10. Prepare an exit strategy for every critical event or press release.
11. Make it difficult to determine fact and fiction – misperception and vague responses.
12. Control perceptions of reality and control them to keep employees focused on their own problems rather than external events.
13. Take the high moral ground – righteousness in the name of public safety or prison wellness and the safety of all correctional staff working inside prisons.

Hence we have arrived at their final goal – to destroy from within and control the chaos completely without resistance or hesitation from the inside. They have taken what they wanted and destroyed those who didn’t want to join them. Then when the time is right, they move in to dominate the situation and disguise aggression as passiveness that can be justified in the end and denied that it ever existed.

Their goal is to cause maximum chaos and provoke aggression. This will likely result in a desperate overreaction by the prison population but will be quickly quelled by forces needed to retake control of all the prison elements temporarily lost by the rebellion or acts of terror.

In the end, they counter terror with organized terror (force) and justify their acts with the needs to balance safe and secure prison management that was initialized by internal forces and guided by external political motives looking for new ways to stabilize the prison industry.