Institutional Aggression Flashcards
Dispositional Factors in the context of prisons
dispositional factors in the context of prisons suggest that high levels of aggression in prisons are due to the personal characteristics of the prisoners, rather than the environment of the prison
Situational Factors in the context of prison +crimogenic
Situational factors suggest that being aggressive is external to the personal characteristics of the prisoners
-It suggests that the prison environment itself is crimogenic, meaning it is the cause of the prisoner’s behaviour
-(basic) Situational factors suggest that high levels of aggression in prisons is due to the harsh environment of the prison, rather than the personal characteristics of the prisoner
Internal characteristics of an aggressive prisoner (dispositional factors)
-Impulsivity
-High levels of anger
-Experience of using violence to solve problems
Importation model (dispositional)
-Suggests that aggression is imported into prison environments from the outside world as a result of prisoners’ personalities
-Prisons gather individuals who have been convicted of violent crimes and put the in one place, they will continue to perform aggressive behaviour
Gang Membership + Instrumental violence (dispositional)
Gang membership may also increase levels of aggression within the prison as prisoners bring prior gang feuds or alliances into the prison environment
-This can lead to instrumental violence, where someone commits an aggressive act to settle a score with another gang or to increase their social status within the prison
Personal Factors (dispositional)
-There are other personal factors linked to aggressive prisoners such as withdrawal from drugs or alcohol and level of education
Prison design as a factor (situational)
-Physical factors such as poor layout, access to improvised weapons, excessive noise and CCTV blind spots, may lead to fear of attack
-Additionally, a lack of proper facilities such as a gym or a library, may lead to a buildup of boredom and frustration (leading to aggression)
Prison Staff
-Personality and quality of staff may also affect the level of prisoner aggression
-Staff who are inexperienced or poorly trained are less likely to be able to diffuse aggressive situations
Deprivation Model
-The deprivation model suggests that depriving prisoners of basic rights such as safety, freedom, autonomy, and heterosexual relationships leads to stress
-This deprivation creates frustration and fear, leading to expressive violence and aggression as an unplanned reactionary response to conditions
Research Evaluation (situational stratified sample questionnaire)
Researchers carried out a stratified sample on a number of US federal prisons, asking them to report the conditions within the prison using a questionnaire and compare them to inmate violence records
-It was found that the level of prisoner violence was significantly higher in prisons with poor physical conditions, excessive noise, poor hygiene, and a lack of privacy for prisoners
-This supports the situational argument that factors within the prison can influence prisoner aggression
Research Evaluation (dispositional factors early experience + criminal history)
-Researchers looked at the early personal background and criminal history of 2500 male inmates to see if this was predictive of institutional aggression
-They found that living in poverty, living in care, and a history of aggression towards family members were all associated with violent assaults on prison officials or other inmates
-This suggests that early experiences result in dispositional factors that cause aggression in prison rather than the prison itself
General Evaluation (socially sensitive research - increase funding/ justification to cut budgets)
Research into instituational aggression may affect the lives of prisoners so can be considered socially sensitive research
-If institutional aggression is deemed to be more as a result of situational factors within the prison, this can lead to an increase in funding for prison facilities
-However, if dispositional factors are confirmed to be more influential on aggression, this may give politicians the justification to reduce budgets for prisons, as making the prisoners more uncomfortable will not affect aggression but will act as a good deterrent
Zimbardo as a support for situational factors resulting in aggression (A03)
Zimbardo’s Stanford prison experiment supports institutional aggression as being a result of situational factors within the prison. The Stanford University student’s acting as participants in the study were screened beforehand, making it unlikely tat they had any dispositional factors that could lead to aggression
-The experiment quickly escalated, with violence and aggression between guards and prisoners
-Zimbardo suggests that this was due to the situational power of Zimbardo’s simulated prison
