FAQ — handling what Institution throws at you
New situations the suite introduces, and what to actually do about them. Grouped by where the trouble comes from. Every layer is a checkbox in Options → Mod Settings — if a whole category of problem isn't for you, turn that layer off and it stops immediately.
Escapes & contraband
A prisoner is digging a tunnel under my wall! Order a warden to search them — a search can turn up the digging tool and end the tunnel, and a half-dug shaft is easier to spot than the pick that started it. Tunnels take days, so you have time. Prevention: house dangerous prisoners in interior cells with no short line to the wilderness, and keep them searched. See Tunnels and Warden Search.
My prisoner keeps having a shiv / weapon on them. Contraband is hidden — you won't see it in the gear tab; that's the point. Order searches, and search the likely prisoner first: a prisoner with a bad record and a gnawed bed is the one to turn over. If searches keep coming up empty but weapons keep appearing, suspect a bent warden or a gang resupplying them (below). See Concealment & Intake.
Where is all this contraband coming from? I keep searching! Three doors: prisoners make it (from their cell's own furniture), a bent warden smuggles it in, or a gang moves it from a stashed member to a searched one. Deny the materials (barer cells), watch your wardens, and segregate gang rivals so the network can't reach across the wing.
One of my wardens is corrupt / letting things through. Warden corruption is a hidden disposition — a greedy or low-conduct colonist makes a leakier warden and may even smuggle. You can't get a clean readout, so if a wing stays dirty no matter how you search, rotate who wardens it. See Corruption.
Prisoners who won't reform
I'm warding a prisoner but their reform isn't moving. Reform only moves when a warden actually runs rehabilitation sessions — assign a warden to the prisoner and let them work. A better cell (more impressive) and a higher-Social warden reform faster; a bare cell and a rookie crawl. Don't leave a flagged prisoner untended: neglect hardens them. See Rehabilitation.
A prisoner is "prisonized" / getting worse the longer I hold them. Harsh discipline (solitary) raises the colony's order but hardens the prisoner — held long and handled roughly, they turn more dangerous, not less. If you want them out reformed, counsel more and discipline less. Discipline is a tool for order, not for rehabilitation. See Discipline & Reform.
How do I actually release a reformed prisoner? Set their interaction mode to Parole. They go free when their reform is high enough and their security grade is low enough (a Supermax pawn won't parole). With Ideology, an execution-happy ideoligion sets a high bar (paroles rarely); an execution-abhorring one lets them out readily. A "Ready for parole" alert tells you when one qualifies. See Parole.
Classification & housing
I got a "dangerous prisoner unsecured" alert. A high-grade prisoner (Maximum/Supermax) is being held somewhere too weak for their grade — in the open, or sharing a cell. Move them to a stronger wing. Place a wall-mounted security marker to grade a whole cell block at once, then the game knows which prisoners are misplaced. See Classification.
A prisoner is miserable and I don't know why. Two common Institution causes: they're caged with a dangerous cellmate (cell-safety mood hit — give them a solo cell) or they're on a Lockup schedule with no recreation. Give dangerous prisoners their own cells and hand prisoners some Yard time. See Regime.
Colony crime (Policing layer)
My own colonists are committing crimes now! That's the Policing layer — colonists offend on the same propensity spectrum as everyone else, more often when they're mistreated, dangerous by nature, or living in a big anonymous colony. Keep colonists happy and the colony tight and it's rare. If you don't want colony crime at all, turn off the Policing toggle and the rest of the suite keeps working. See Policing.
A crime happened but no one was caught. Witnesses and a constable's investigation accrue evidence over time before a culprit is named — give it a few days and assign someone capable to police work. Not every crime is solved. See Policing.
I don't want to arrest my star colonist over a petty theft. You often won't have to — arrests are weighed: a valuable colonist and a minor crime tips toward letting it slide, and a small colony (or no free prison bed) won't arrest at all. And a disposed culprit may resist the arrest and try to break out.
A riot broke out! The colony's climate of order collapsed. Order falls when crime goes unanswered and rises with visible justice — arrests and discipline. Riots only catch when order is already low, so the fix is to stop letting crime pay: catch and punish, and order recovers. See Deterrence.
Why does punishing one prisoner seem to calm the whole colony? By design — the order climate feeds back into everyone's disposition. Catching and punishing one pawn deters the rest a little; letting crime slide emboldens them. That feedback is the whole point of the suite. See Deterrence.
Gangs
A gang formed in my prison. Gangs are a symptom of a badly-run colony — disposed prisoners band together along ties they already share. The counter-play is the rest of the suite: segregate rivals into different wings (a network whose members can't reach each other is starved), keep prisoners reformed, and don't let contraband flow. A well-run colony grows few gangs, if any. See Joining and Affiliations & Segregation.
Two prisoners keep fighting. Rival-gang brawls are booked as crimes — they land on the attacker's record and erode the colony's order, so they matter beyond the moment. Segregating the rivals is how you stop it. See Rivalry & Fights.
Psychiatric care (Ward layer)
A prisoner broke mentally — I'd rather treat them than punish them. Commit them to the Ward: sustained counselling reduces the disorder that broke them and builds a recovery track toward discharge. It's the other door out of the prison — recovery instead of punishment. Don't neglect a committed patient, or they deteriorate. A sedative can calm a patient who's about to break. See Commitment.
Settings & compatibility
This is too much / I only want part of it. Every layer is independent. Open Options → Mod Settings → Institution and untick any of Contraband, Policing, Corrections, Gangs, or Ward. The one you turn off goes inert immediately; the rest still work.
Does it play nice with other prison / psychiatry mods? Yes — Institution rides vanilla's own prisoner rail and is tested against the popular psych/prison mods. It extends rather than replaces, so it coexists with the mods that own the parts it doesn't. Ward in particular is built to sit alongside Hospitality, Psychology, Rim Disorders and friends.
Do I need anything else? Just Harmony. The shared Core engine ships inside the mod. Foul Play (a separate mod) bridges in if you also run it.
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