Institutional aggression in prisons Flashcards
(10 cards)
What is institutional aggression?
Aggressive acts that are found in particular violent institutions such as prisons
What is the situational explanation of institutional aggression?
The deprivation model - institutional aggression is the result of stressful and oppressive conditions of the prison itself (Paterline and Peterson)
What specific deprivations did Skyes suggest as reasons for such aggression?
Loss of liberty, loss of autonomy and loss of security
Either choose to withdraw through seclusion in their cell whereas some rebel in form of violence against the other prisoners/staff
What did Kimmet and Martin find in their study of over 200 prisons?
Violence in prisons is frequently a way of surviving the risk of exploitation, an ever-present threat within prison culture
Mostly to do with non-material interests such as the need for respect and fairness/a way of expressing loyalty and honour
What role do prison characteristics play in institutional aggression?
Cooke et al
Overcrowding - government repot in 2014 attributed the record rates of murder, suicide and assaults to overcrowding
Heat and noise
Job burn out - staff refers to the experience of being psychologically worn out from job, been linked to deterioration in relationships with inmates and overall functioning of prison (Maslach et al)
What is the dispositional explanation for institutional aggression?
The importation model - inmates bring with them to prison their violent pasts and draw on their experiences in an environment where toughness and physical exploitation are survival skills - prisoners are not ‘blank slates’ (Irwin & Cressey)
Why is gang membership central to institutional aggression?
Consistently related to violence/anti-social behaviour
pre-prison gang memberships appears to be an important determinant of prison misconduct
Allender & Marcell - gang members disproportionately engage in acts of prison violence e.g. murder, hostage taking and assault with a deadly weapon
What role do dispositional characteristics play in institutional aggression?
Anger, anti-social personality style and impulsivity - Wang and Diamond found these were stronger predictors of institutional aggression than ethnicity and type of offence committed
Low self-control
What challenges are there to the importation model?
DeLisi et al - inmates with prior street street gang involvement were no more likely than other inmates to engage in prison violence
The lack of association found in this study however can be explained by the fact that violent gang members tend to be isolated from the general inmate population - therefore great;y restricting their opportunities for violence e.g Fischer found that isolating known gang members in a special management unit reduced the rates of serious assault by 50%
What real world application is there for the evidence of situational factors affecting institutional aggression?
HMP Woodhill 1990s - Prison Governor David Wilson reasoned if most violence occurs in environments that are hot, overcrowded, noisy etc, then this could be avoided by reducing these things
Wilson set up two units for violent prisoners that were less claustrophobic/prison-like, temperature lowered + music on radio to cover noise
These changes virtually eradicated assaults on prison staff and other inmates provide powerful support for the claim that situational variables are the main cause of violence
