Institutional Aggression in the Context of Prisons

Question 1

what are the 2 explanations in institutional aggression in the context of prisons?

Answer 1

• dispositional aggression
• situational aggression

Question 2

who introduced the importation model?

Answer 2

• Irwin and Cressey

Question 3

what do Irwin and Cressey argue?

Answer 3

• Irwin and Cressey’s importation model says that prisons are not completely insulated from everyday life outside in the real world
• prison inmates come from the outside world and import a subculture typical of criminality
• this includes beliefs, norms, attitudes and a history of learning experiences as well as personal characteristics such as gender and ethnicity

Question 4

what does the willingness to use violence depend on?

Answer 4

the willingness of inmates to use violence inside prison to settle disputes reflects their lives before they were imprisoned

Question 5

what do Thomas and McManimon say?

Answer 5

• people who prey on others on the streets also prey on others in prison
• inmates import behaviours and characteristics which then influence their use of aggression to establish power, status, influence and access to resources

Question 6

therefore, what does the importation model say about aggression?

Answer 6

aggression is the product of individual characteristics of inmates and not the prison environment

Question 7

who is the researcher involved in the dispositional explanation?

Answer 7

• DeLisi et al

Question 8

what did DeLisi et al do?

Answer 8

• studied a group of juvenile offenders in Californian institutions who had negative backgrounds (e.g. childhood trauma, anger, histories of substance abuse and violent behaviour)
• these individuals were importing these characteristics into prison
• researchers compared this group with a control group of inmates, who did not have negative features
• negative inmates were more likely to engage in suicidal activity, sexual misconducts and acts of physical aggression

Question 9

who introduced the deprivation model?

Answer 9

Clemmer

Question 10

what does Clemmer say about the deprivation model?

Answer 10

• deprivation model places causes of institutional aggression within the prison environment itself
• harsh prison conditions are stressful for inmates, so they cope by resorting to aggressive and violent behaviour

Question 11

what are examples of harsh conditions on the deprivation model?

Answer 11

• psychological factors (deprived of freedom and sexual intimacy)
• physical factors (deprived of goods and services)
• deprivation of material goods is closely linked to aggression as it increases competition amongst inmates

Question 12

what else influences aggression according to the situational explanations?

Answer 12

nature of the prison regime
- unpredictable
- prisons use lock ups to control behaviour, this creates frustration, reduces stimulation by barring other interesting activities and reduces further access to good
- violence happens, which is an adaptive solution to the problem of deprivation

Question 13

who is the researcher involved in the situational explanation?

Answer 13

Steiner

Question 14

what did Steiner do?

Answer 14

• investigated factors in 512 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 as they are independent of individual characteristics of prisoners
• they reliably predicted aggressive behaviour in line with the deprivation model

Question 15

what model does the dispositional explanation use?

Answer 15

importation model

Question 16

what model does the situational explanation use?

Answer 16

deprivation model