Prisoners
Bring their
ow social
histories
with them
They
argue
prisoners
are not
'blank
slates'
when they
enter
prison
Many of the normative
systems developed on the
outside would be
imported into the prison
Evaluation
Hans + Steffensmeier (2006)
Collected data from 58 US
prisons
Found black inmates had significantly higher
rates of violence but lower rates of alcohol
and drug related misconduct than white
inmates
These parallel racial
differences in these
behaviours in US
society and so support
the importation model
Gang Membership
Allender + Marcell (2003)
In prison enviroments, gang membership is
consistantly realted to violence and other
forms of anti-social behaviour
Found that gang
membership
appears to be an
important
determinant in
prison misconduct
Members of street
gangs offend at
higher levels than
their non-gang
counterparts and
account for a
disproportionate
amount of serious
and violent crime
Huff (1998)
Gang members in the
US are 10x more likely
to murder or assault in
public than non-gang
members of a similar
age and background
Evaluation
DeLisi (2004)
Challenges the claim
the pre-prison gang
membership predicts
violence in prison
They found
inmates with
prior street
gang
involvement
were no more
likely to
engage in
violence
This lack of
correlation
between two may
be explained by
the fact violent
gang members
tend to be isolated
from the general
inmate population
therefore have
less opportunities
for violence.
Fischer (2001)
Isolating known
gang members
reduced rates of
serious assault by
50%
Situational Factors - The Deprivation Model
Paterline + Peterson (1999)
This model argues
that prisoner or
paitient aggression is
the product of the
stressful and
oppressive conditions
of the institution
Include
crowding,
assumed to
increase fear and
frustrated levels
of the staff
experience
Hodgkinson et al (1985)
Found trainee nurses are
more likely to suffer from
violent assault than
experienced nurses
Davies + Burgess (1988)
In the prison setting, length of
service was also a significant factor,
with more experienced officers being
less likely to suffer assault
Evaluation
McCorkle et al (1995)
Support the claim that
peer violence is used to
relieve the deprivation
imposed by institutional
cultures such as prisons.
Found that
overcrowding, lack of
privacy and lack of
meaningful activity all
significantly influence
peer violence
Nijman et al (1999)
Research is
not consistent
in its findings
Found increased
personal space
failed to decrease
the level of violent
incidents among
patients/prisoners
The Pains of Imprisoment
Sykes (1958)
Described
deprivations
that inmates
experience
within
prison and
which might
be linked to
an increase
in violence
These included the loss
of liberty, the loss of
autonomy and loss of
securit, they found the
potential threat to
personal security
increase anxiety levels
in inmates even if the
majority of prisoners
posed no threat..
They may
cope in
different
ways to
the pains
Some may withdraw
through seclusion in
their cell or living
space and others
may rebel in the
form of violence
against prisoners
and/or staff
Combining the Deprivation and Importation Models
Jiang + Fischer-Giorlando (2002)
Found
support for
both the
deprivation
and
importation
They found the
deprivation model
was better to explain
violence against
prison staff where as
the importation
model was better to
explain violence
agains other inmates
Poole + Regoli (1983)
Found the best indicator
among juvenile offenders
was pre-institutional
violence regardless of any
situational factors in the
institution