Institutional aggression Flashcards
(16 cards)
what are the two theories that explain prison violence
- importation model
- deprivation model
who came up with the importation model
Irwin and Cressy
what type of explanation is the importation model
a dispositional model
what does the importation model say
- people who enter prison have already have the values and attitudes that predispose them to agression including:
- prision acting as a pressure cooker which releases these agressive behaviour
- attitudes from prisoners - socioeconomic backgrounds, upbringing, race/culture, relgion, education, drug use
what subculters do Irwin and Cressy say the prisoners background lead them to join
- criminal subculture - following norms and values of a career criminal
- convict subculture - seeing power and status due to being in the prison systen
- conventional subculture - reject other suncultures due to be one off offenders
example of importation model
- attica 1971
- maximum security prison in NY with 54% black american, 9% puetro rico, 37% white
- following the shooting of a prisoner by a guard in another prison, 1000 of the attica prisoners rebelled and seized control of the prison, taking 33 staff hostage
- 4 days of negotiagtions, authorites agreed to 28 of inmates demands
- 39 ppl died - 10 correctional offices and civillan employees
- shows IM as lots of differnt cultural groups and gangs with their own values and attitudes about aggression which they brought into the prison creating confict
strength: supporting evidence
importation model
I: supporting evidence for the IM of IA
E: DelLisi studies 813 juvenile delinquients in california for displays of violence in prison. inamtes who suffered from childhood traumas, with histories of drug abuse and violent behaviour, were more likely to engage in acts of physical violence and secual misconduct, compared to a control group without such histories
C: increases validity that IA is cuased by the individuals dispositions
HOWEVER: causality is difficult to establish as it only shows relationship between improtation of aggressive atts in prison
sample is unrepresentative as it uses delinquents whose aggression may not be representative other other prisoners
weakness: alternative
importation model
I: alternative explanations for institiutional aggression
E: Dilulio IM may be inadaquate explanation becuase it ingores the roles of prison officals and factors relating to the organisation of the prison. research suggests that poorly managed prisions are more likely to experience extreme violence from inmates. the adminstrative control model suggests that; weak and indecises leadership, cultures of unoffical and informal rules, few opportunties for educ can all lead to emtrme rioting and violence within prisons
C: reduces the validity that IA is caused bu disposition and their pre exisitng values , instead are situational factors
who came up with the deprivation model
Sykes
what type of explanation is the deprivation model
a situational explanation
what does the deprivation model say
- characteristics of the prison system istlef rather than the prison population that accounts for violence within prisons
- prisons have harsh conditions, and stress and frustration with these conditions may make immates turn to aggression to cope with it
- aggression becomes an adaptive solution to the problem of deprivation
- deprivation in prison ofen involves lack of acess ro goods and services which are ordinarily taken for granted - poor sanitation, noise and overcrowding
what factors does sykes identify that contributed to IA
deprivation model
- deprivation of liberty - depreived of freedom, have to get permission to sleep/eat/shower
- deprivation of autonomy - prisoners have no power leads to helplessness creatinf feelings of frustration and aggression
- deprivation of heterosexual rels - men may feel emasculated from loss of straight rels, greater opportunity for homo behaviour casuing anxieties and therefore aggression
- deprivation of security - prisoners may live in fear of aggression from other inmates, heightend sense of physical threat
example of deprivation model
- strangeways
- high security prison in manchester with highest suicide rate in UK
- april 1990’s riots began in protests over conditions, limited excerise rights, use of sedatives on prisoners
- prisoers quickly took control of the prison chapel, then spread throughout the whole prison. over 25 days 1 prisoner died and 147 prison officers and 47 prisoners were injured
- according the DM poor conditions experienced created frustration
strength: supporting
I: supporting evidence for the deprivation model of IA
E: McCorkle et al found in a review of 371 prisons that overcrowding, lack of privacy and lack of meaningful activity in prison all significantly influenced likelyhood of inmates violence
Light found that when overcrowdinging in male prison increases, so does the level of violence
C: increases the validty that IA is caused by situational factors such as experiencing harsh conditions, leading to frustration and aggression
weakness: contradictory
deprivation model
I: contradictory eivdence against deprivation model
E: Hensley et al studied 256 males and femlaes inmates at 2 prisions in mississippi. inmates were in prisons which allowed conjugal vistis ( vists for sexual contact between partners), and therefore did not experience deprivation in this way. no link between involvement in these visits and reduced aggressive behaviour
C: decreases the validity as aggressive behaviour was still present when this was deprivation was not experienced
strength: real world
deprivation model
I: real world applications of the DM
E: 1990’s HMP Woodhall, two units for vioelnt prisoners were set up that provided more space and outdoor views. noise and temperature levels were also reduced . these changes virtually stopped any assaults on officers and other inamates
C: research into IA and prison enviroments has real world benefits as it can help reduce amount of violence in prisons
