institutional aggression

Question 1

what is institutional aggression ?

Answer 1

aggression may occur within groups or institutions such as the armed forces or prisons.

Question 2

what is the importation model ?

Answer 2

• proposed by Irwin and Cressey
• This explanation focuses on the personality characteristics that prison inmates take into the prison with them
• The importation model argues therefore that it is not the situational pressures of the prison (or other institution) that causes aggression, but rather the personalities of the individuals within it

Question 3

support for the importation model ?

Answer 3

Adams (1981) found that in American prisons, black inmates were more likely to be associates with violent acts than white inmates. The argument for this is that black prisoners tended to come from poorer backgrounds with higher rates of crime, and so imported their cultural norms into the prison.

Question 4

weakness of the importation model ?

Answer 4

it does not accurately predict which inmates will behave aggressively in prison.
DeLisi et al (2004) found no evidence that gang membership prior to imprisonment was linked with violence once in prison.

Question 5

what is the deprivation model ?

Answer 5

says that institutional violence is a product of stressful situations. Factors such as crowding, fear, frustration and staff experience are claimed to be the most important ones in causing aggressive behaviour in an institution.

Question 6

support for the deprivation model ?

Answer 6

Harer and Steffensmeier (1996) suggest that inmates behave in a way that is caused by the difficulties they have adjusting to the ‘pains of imprisonment’.

Question 7

evidence against the deprivation model ?

Answer 7

McCorkle et al (1995) sampled 371 US prisons and found little evidence to support the prediction that overcrowding in prisons leads to increased levels of violent behaviour.

Question 8

IDA ?

Answer 8

Nature nurture debate
The importation model of institutional aggression considers both the underlying personality of the individuals within an institution as well as their pre-prison environment, however the deprivation model only considers the environment an individual finds themselves in.