Institutional Aggression Flashcards
5 stages in the process of genocide
Difficult social situations
Scapegoating of less powerful group
Negative evaluation + dehumanisation
Moral values + rules becoming inapplicable (killing begin)
Passivity of bystanders enhances process
Importation model
Irwin + Cressey
An individual’s behaviour in prison is influenced by their social histories and traits; they import aggressive behaviour into the institution
Many normative systems developed on outside would be imported into prison
Gang membership
Related to violence + other forms of antisocial behaviour
Members of street gangs offend at higher levels than non-gang members
Huff
Gang members in US were 10 times more likely to commit murder + 3 times more likely to assault someone in public than non-gang members
Deprivation model
Prisoner or patient aggression is the product of the stressful + oppressive conditions of the institution itself
Crowding, assumed to increase fear + frustration levels + staff experience
Support for deprivation model
Trainee nurses are more likely to suffer violent assault than experienced nurses
Also same for prison guards
Sykes
Pains of imprisonment
Deprivations that inmates experience in prison, which might be linked to an increase in violence
Threat to personal security increased anxiety levels in inmates even if majority of prisoners posed no threat
The 3 pains of imprisonment
Loss of liberty, loss of autonomy + loss of security
How may some prisoners cope with pains of imprisonment?
Withdraw through seclusion in their cell
Others chose to rebel in form of violence against other prisoners or staff
Dehumanisation
Members are seen as worthless animals + no worthy of moral consideration
Tutsi’s referred to as cokroaches
Obedience to authority
Milgram
The Holocaust was primarily the result of situational pressures that forced Nazi soldiers to obey their leaders regardless of any personal moral repugnance
Importation model support
Black inmates had higher rates of violent behaviour but lower rates of alcohol-related + drug-related misconduct than white inmates = parallel racial differences in US society
Weakness of gang membership
Research found inmates with prior street gang involvement were no more likely than other inmates to engage in prison environment
Might be explained by fact that violent gang members are more isolated from gen pop = restriction op for violence
Fischer
Isolating known gang members in a special management unit reduced the rates of serious assault by 50%
Research support for deprivation model
Found overcrowding, lack of privacy + lack of meaningful activity all significantly influenced peer violence
Limitation of deprivation model
Research is not consistent
Research found increased personal space failed to decrease the level of violent incidents among patients
Challenge for deprivation model
The best indicator of violence among juvenile offenders was pre-institutional violence regardless of any situational factors in the institution
Importation Vs Deprivation
Importation model was better able to explain violence against other inmates
Deprivation model was better able to explain violence against prison staff
Evidence for consequences of dehumanisation
Seen in Holocaust
Real-world application of dehumanisation
Social dominance orientation= personality variable which predicts social + political attitudes
High SDO = endorse social hierarchies + inter-group inequality
Indis with high SDO dehumanise outgroup members (asylum seekers)
Real-world application of deprivation model
Violent prisoners given nicer prison e.g. lower temp, less noise + less prison like
Virtually eradicated assaults on prison staff
Political pressure (worst prisoners can’t get the best) = not allowed
Obedience to authority
Mandel rejects Milgram’s claims that O to A was sufficient to explain behaviour of Holocaust perpetrators
It is monocausal + doesn’t match historical record
