institutional aggression in the context of prisons Flashcards
what is institutional aggression?
aggressive or violent behaviour that takes place within the social context of a prison or other formal organised setting
what is a dispositional explanation?
an explanation of behaviour that highlights the importance of the individuals personality. such explanations are often contrasted with situational explanations.
who proposed the importation model?
Irwin and Cressey
what is the importation model?
•it argues that prisons are not completely insulated from everyday life
•prisons inmates come from the outside world and import a subculture of criminality
•this dispositional culture is based on individual nature and nurture
•the willingness of inmates to use violence within prison reflects their lives before they were imprisoned
•therefore the aggression seen in prisons are a product of individual characteristics (dispositional factors) of inmates and not the prison environment
what is prisoner characteristics linked to outcomes?
DeLisi studied a group of juvenile offenders who had negative backgrounds (eg trauma of abuse). These individuals were importing these characteristics (and the resulting dispositions) into prison. the researchers compared this group with a control group of inmates who did not have these negative features
The ‘negative’ inmates were more likely to engage in suicidal activity, sexual misconduct and acts of physical aggression
what are the two features of the dispositional explanation?
•the importation model
•prisoner characteristics linked to outcomes
what is the situational explanation?
an explanation that identifies the cause of behaviour as existing within the environment, which may include other people. such explanations are contrasted with dispositional explanations.
what are the two aspects of the situational explanation?
•the deprivation model
•prison-level factors linked to outcomes
who introduced the deprivation model?
Clemmer
what is the deprivation model?
•it places the causes of institutional aggression within the prison environment itself
•harsh prison conditions are stressful for inmates, who cope by resorting to aggressive and violent behaviours
•deprivation of material goods is closely linked to aggression because it increases competition amongst inmates
•the prison regime is often unpredictable and regularly uses ‘lock-ups’ to control behaviour, increasing frustration, as well as reducing access to stimulating activities
•this is a recipe for violence, which becomes an adaptive solution to the problem of deprivation
what is prison-level factors linked to outcomes?
•Steiner investigated factors predicting aggression in over 500 US prisons
•inmate-on-inmate violence was more common in prisons where there was a higher proportion of staff who were women, overcrowding and more inmates in protective custody
•these are prison-level factors because they are independent of individual characteristics of prisoners. they reliably predicted aggressive behaviour in line with the deprivation model.
3 evaluation points for the dispositional explanation
+ research support
- ignores key factors
- determinism and free will
dispositional
strength: research support
•Camp and Gaes studied 561 male inmates with similar criminal histories and predispositions to aggression
•half were randomly placed in low- security prisons and half in high- security ones
•within two years there was no significant difference between prisons in the number of prisoners involved in aggressive misconduct
•the researchers concluded that features of the prison environment are less important predictors of aggressive behaviour than characteristics of inmates
•this is strong evidence for importation because of the random allocation of inmates
dispositional
limitation: ignores key factors
•Dilulio claims that the importation model ignores others factors, such as the way the prison is run.
•Instead he proposed the Administrative control model (ACM) which states that poorly managed prisons are more likely to have inmate violence.
•therefore, importation is an inadequate explanation because institutional factors are probably more important than inmate characteristics
determinism and free will
•the importation model may be determinist
•prisoners are aggressive because of ‘negative’ dispositions they import onto prisoners
•this implies that negative aggression is inevitable and that it is not the ‘fault’ of prisoners
•however, it could be argued that aggression in prisons is the outcome of prisoners except using their free will. aggression in prisons is therefore not inevitable and is the responsibility of individual prisoners
