Abstract Participatory management as an intervention technique to effect change in the prison environment requires a restructuring of the prison Incision‐making process. Inmates must be given increased responsibility and be aUowed to participate meaningfully in decision‐making. The inmate subculture is posited as being one of the major impediments to successful interventions within the prison setting; participatory management neutralizes its effects, replacing the traditional oppositional character of staff/ inmate relationships with a coalition of staff and inmates.