Institutional aggression in the context of prisons: Situational and dispositional explanation

What does the dispositional explanation of aggression argue?

• It focuses on the personality factors a person has before they enter prison and how this might prime them for aggression

Describe the importation model by Irwin and Casey (1962)

• They believed there are certain factors that criminals ‘import’ into prison that lead to aggression such as beliefs and values as well as personal characteristics such as gender and race

  • They used these beliefs and values as a means of negotiating their way through unfamiliar and frightening situations

Describe the types of people who show high aggression levels in prisons

• Young ethnic minority males from lower class backgrounds

  • This could be due to biological reasons (testosterone) or evolutionary reasons (exerting power and status) or social learning

• Prisoners who had issues with addiction or members of a gang before being arrested

  • The prison environment mirrors their behaviour before they entered the prison

  • Often a history of impulsive aggression is the reason they were sent to prison in the first place

There is supporting evidence to support the dispositional explanation of aggression. Describe how this is a strength

• Poole and Regoli (1983): the best indicator of violence amongst juvenile offenders was their level of pre-institutional violence - regardless of any situational factors in the institution

• Camp and Gaes (2005): study of 561 male inmates with similar criminal histories and predispositions to aggression

  • Half placed in low-security prison and half placed in second-highest category of prisons

  • 33% of prisoners in low-security prison and 36% of prisoners in higher category prison were involved in aggressive misconduct within in 2 years

    • Demonstrates that features of the prison environment are significantly less important predictors of aggressive behaviour

• This is a strength as it suggests the importation model may be a stronger explanation of institutional aggression than the deprivation model

There is supporting evidence that aggressive characteristics can be imported into prison. Describe how this a strength

• Delisi et al (2011): study of 813 juvenile delinquents in Californian institutions who imported a range of negative dispositional features with them, .e.g, trauma and abuse

  • A positive correlation was found - inmates with the most negative dispositional factors were the most likely to be brought in front of the parole board for being aggressive in the institution

• This is a strength since it can provide insight for which individuals are more likely to be aggressive based on their characteristics before entering prison

What does the situational explanation of aggression argue?

• It focuses on the prison environment itself and how the harsh conditions cause stress and strain for the prisoners - leading to them retaliating by acting aggressively

Name and describe the deprivations devised by Clemmer (1958) LAUGHS

• A person adopts the behaviours of others rather than acting like they normal would because their regular routine and luxuries are taken away

• Prisons that are overcrowded and regularly used punishments such as ‘lock ups’ are more likely to experience prisoners acting aggressively

  • Liberty

  • Autonomy

  • Goods and services

  • Heterosexual relationships

  • Security

Describe Steiner (2009)’s study

• Investigated the factories that predicted inmate aggression in 512 prisons in the USA

  • Inmate-on-inmate violence was more common in prisons where there was a higher proportion of female staff, overcrowding and more inmates in protective custody

  • These are all prison level factors since they are independent of individual characteristics

There is supporting evidence for the situational explanation of aggression in prisons. Describe how this is a strength

• Bierie (2011): took a stratified sample of prison staff from all 117 US federal prisons and gave them a questionnaire on conditions at their prison - this was matched to prison records of violence

  • The results showed extreme inmate violence was significantly higher in prisons with poor physical conditions such as noise levels and poor hygiene

• Cunningham et al (2010): analysed 34 inmate homicides and found that motivations for behaviours were linked to some of the deprivations identified by Clemmer

  • Many arguments were over drugs and personal possessions

• This is a strength as it suggests that actual prison environment itself can influence the level of violence in prison

Research into the situational explanation has practical applications. Describe how this is a strength

• Early 1990s - Wilson set up two units in HMP Woodhill that were ‘less’ claustrophobic and gave a view of the outside world and make prison noise with music

• The temperature was also lowered so it wasn’t extremely hot

  • These changes virtually eradicated assaults on prison staff and other inmates

• This is a strength as it suggests that the deprivation model can be used to help improve safety and security for staff and inmates alike by improving the prison environment

There is contradictory research that criticises the deprivation model. Describe how this is a weakness

• Hensley et al (2002): studied 2 prisons in Mississippi where inmates were allowed ‘conjugal visits’ - they were not deprived of sexual intimacy with their romantic partner

  • Findings: these prisons had the same levels of aggression as those who did not allow conjugal visits

• This is a weakness as it suggests deprivation heterosexual relationships does not affect prison violence