Institutional Aggression: Disposition Explanation Flashcards
1
Q
Institutional Aggression: Disposition Explanation
Importation Model
A
- Inmates import a subculture typical of criminality (beliefs, norms)
- The disposition explanation is based on inherited temperment and social environment.
- The willingness of inmates to use violence reflects their lives before imprisonment and their imported behaviours influence the use of aggression to establish power.
- Therefore, aggression is the product of individual characteristics of inmates and not their prison environment.
2
Q
Institutional Aggression: Disposition Explanation
Prisoner Characteristics
A
- Delisi (2011) studies a group of juvenile offenders with negative backgrounds.
- These individuals were importing these characteristics into prisions.
- Researchers compared this group with a control group of inmates who didn’t have negative backgrounds.
- The ‘negative’ inmates were more likely to engage in suicidal activity and acts of aggression.
3
Q
Disposition Explanation: Evaluation
Research Support
A
- Researchers studied 561 male inmates with aggressive predispositions.
- Half of these were randomly placed in low-security and the other half in high-security.
- In two years there was no significant between the number of prisoners involved in aggressive misconduct (33% vs 36%).
- Researchers concluded features of the prison environment are less important predictors.
This is strong evidence for importation because of the random allocation of inmates.
4
Q
Disposition Explanation: Evaluation
Ignores Key Factors
A
- The importation model ignires other factors influencing behaviour.
- The Administrative Control Model states poorly managed prisons are more likely to have inmate violence.
- Poor management includes weak leadership, thriving culture of unofficial rules, staff distancing themselves from inmates and few opportunities for education.
This means the importation explanation is inadequate because institutional factors are important.
