Lesson 9-Institutional aggression-dispositional

Question 1

Dispositions explanation

Answer 1

The traits and characteristics that together create an individual’s identities are the main factors in any aggression displayed by that individual

Question 2

Irwin and Cressey (1962)

Answer 2

-importation model- individuals import their characteristics and traits into the prison when they enter
-if an individual comes from a subculture where violence is the norm they will continue to be violent in prison
-criminals often used to violence, therefore determines their behaviour inside and outside prison
-explains higher levels of aggression demonstrated by individuals with certain personal characteristics, proposes certain individuals more likely to be more aggressive in any setting
-younger inmates tend to behave more violently as they are more likely to find it harder to adjust to prison life, engage in more conflicts, view it more appropriate

Question 3

Strength (Adams 1981)

Answer 3

-American prisons black inmates were more likely to be associated with violent acts in comparison to white inmates
-black prisonsers tended to come from poorer backgrounds with higher rates of crime
-imported cultural norms into prison

Question 4

Strength (Camp and Gaes 2005)

Answer 4

-561 male inmates with similar criminal histories
-half randomly placed in high security / low security Californian prisons
-within two years found no significant difference between prisons in terms of number of prisoners involved in aggressive acts (33% in low 36% in high)
-features of prison less important predictors than inmate characteristics

Question 5

Weakness (Dilulio 1991)

Answer 5

-ignored other key factors important to consider eg the way the prison is run
-proposes Administrative Control Model which states that poorly managed (including weak leadership) prisons are more likely to have in mate violence

Question 6

Weakness (beta bias)

Answer 6

-most of the research involved male prisoners so very little known about reasons for violence in female prisons
-androcentric to assume same reasons can be used to explain camel violence, may be other factors to explain female prison aggression