Programs

Languages: The content of this page is based on Prison Architect Version 1.

Gameplay

Programs

Description:

Run and control available Programs in your prison.

Other Information:

None provided

This article is about the different skills and lessons your prisoners and staff can learn from within your prison. For information about researching Education, see Bureaucracy.

Summary

Daily programs can be run to train, educate and reform your prisoners. These programs are administered from the Programs tab in the Reports interface. Each program runs during a scheduled time during the day, based on the allocated Work time in the Regime, and costs money per session. Different programs provide different benefits to both the player and the participating prisoners.

Prisoners can only take part in one program at a time, and may only attend one session in that program per day. Most programs are voluntary, but prisoners will be less likely to volunteer for programs if they are badly treated. Prisoners must complete the Workshop Safety Induction or Kitchen Safety and Hygiene courses before they can work in the Workshop or Kitchen respectively.

Scheduling

Programs are automatically scheduled to Work slots, not freetime slots, in the Regime. For example, if work is scheduled in for 9am, 11am-1pm, and 2pm-5pm, sessions that are 2 hours long will be scheduled to 11am-12pm and 2pm-4pm. Whereas 3 hour long sessions will be scheduled to 2pm-5pm only.

If Micromanagement is researched from the Bureaucracy tree, the times and locations of all programs can be adjusted manually with the "Edit Schedule" button. Programs set manually will be pinned in place, and will not be moved by the auto-scheduler. New programs can be created by clicking in the Scheduler view. Right-click on programs to cancel them.

Parole Hearings, Death Row Appeals and the Guard Tazer Certification do not require to be performed within the work regime and instead may be performed anytime.

Prisoner Programs

Program Title	Cost per Session	Seats / Sessions	Tutor / Room	Session Length	Requirements	Prisoner Attendance	Course Type	Difficulty
Alcoholics Group Therapy	$200	Seats: 20 Sessions Required: 10	Psychologist Common Room	2 Hours	Bureaucracy: Psychology Psychologist Common Room One Chair or Sofa per Prisoner	Referred (Alcoholism)	Reform Theory	Easy
Pharmacological Treatment of Drug Addiction	$200	Seats: 10 Sessions Required: 3	Doctor Infirmary	1 Hour	Bureaucracy: Health Doctor Infirmary One Medical Bed per Prisoner	Referred (Drug Addiction)	Reform Theory	Easy
Behavioural Therapy	$200	Seats: 1 Sessions Required: 5	Psychologist Office	2 Hours	Bureaucracy: Psychology Psychologist Psychologist's Office One Chair for the Prisoner	Referred (Violence)	Reform Theory	Intermediate
Workshop Safety Induction	$100	Seats: 10 Sessions Required: 2	Foreman Workshop	2 Hours	Bureaucracy: Prison Labour Foreman Workshop One Workshop Saw or Workshop Press per Prisoner	Voluntary (Interested)	Education Practical	Easy
Carpentry Apprenticeship	$500	Seats: 5 Sessions Required: 5	Foreman Workshop	2 Hours	Bureaucracy: Prison Labour Foreman Workshop One Carpenter Table per Prisoner Prisoner has completed: Workshop Safety Induction	Voluntary (Interested & Qualified)	Education Practical	Advanced
Kitchen Safety and Hygiene	$100	Seats: 5 Sessions Required: 2	Cook Kitchen	2 Hours	Bureaucracy: Prison Labour Cook Kitchen One Cooker per Prisoner	Voluntary (Interested)	Education Practical	Easy
Foundation Education Program	$300	Seats: 20 Sessions Required: 5	Teacher Classroom	3 Hours	Bureaucracy: Education Classroom One School Desk per Prisoner	Voluntary (Interested)	Education Theory	Easy
General Education Qualification	$500	Seats: 10 Sessions Required: 10	Teacher Classroom	3 Hours	Bureaucracy: Education Classroom One School Desk per Prisoner Prisoner has completed: Foundation Education Program	Voluntary (Interested & Qualified)	Education Theory	Intermediate
Spiritual Guidance	$250	Seats: 20 Sessions Required: 1	Spiritual Leader Chapel	2 Hours	Chapel One Prayer Mat or place on a Pew per prisoner	Voluntary (Spirituality need)	Other Theory	Easy
Parole Hearing	$0	Seats: 1 Sessions Required: 1	Parole Lawyer, Parole Officer Parole Room	4 Hours	Bureaucracy: Prison Policy Parole Room	Parole	Other Theory	Easy
Psychiatric Consultation	$150	Seats: 1 Sessions Required: 1	Psychiatrist Psychiatrist's Office Sofa or Leather Sofa	1 Hour	Psychiatrist Psychiatrist's Office One Chair or Sofa per Prisoner	Referred (Suppression)	Reform Theory	Easy
Death Row Appeal	$0	Seats: 1 Sessions Required: 1	Appeals Lawyer, Appeals Magistrate Parole Room	4 Hours	Bureaucracy: Death Row Parole Room, Execution chamber	Death Row	Other Theory	Easy

Theory involves the prisoners sitting down and learning directly from the instructor. Practical involves the prisoners using tools to directly learn from the instructor.

Staff Programs

Program Title	Cost per Session	Seats / Sessions	Tutor / Room	Session Length	Requirements	Staff Attendance	Course Type	Difficulty
Guard Tazer Certification	$100	Seats: 10 Sessions Required: 1	Chief Classroom	1 Hour	Bureaucracy: Education Bureaucracy: Tazer Rollout Chief Classroom One School Desk per Guard	Mandatory (Must Attend)	Education Theory	Easy

Theory involves the staff sitting down and learning directly from the instructor.

Being equipped with tazers makes guards more powerful, and it also helps them reducing their safety need.

Tips

• Suppressed prisoners are less likely to volunteer for a program, and gang members will not participate in any voluntary program at all (so do Death Row prisoners, as they don't follow any Regime at all).
• Some prisoners have more affinity for academic topics than others. In addition, the level of concentration of your prisoners is a major factor on their chances of success. (Prisoners concentrate best when all of their needs have been taken care of.)
• Programs cost per session, so running programs with only a few prisoners is relatively expensive. You may want to wait until enough prisoners are interested/referred, and you should plan your rooms big enough to provide enough space for the equipment needed for the maximum number of participants.
• However, parole hearings are free, so it's a good idea to schedule as many as possible so that as few are left in the queue as possible.
• The Guard Tazer Certification can be scheduled in the middle of the night, where the guards would idle otherwise.
• The "Reschedule All" button will reset the prisoners in each program without the program losing progress. This is useful for when prisoners are sitting in queue instead of joining classes.