Institutional Aggression

1
Institutional Aggression

• Prisons

2
Importation model of Institutional Aggression

• At the end of this session, you will be able to
• Describe the importation model of institutional
  aggression relating to prison violence
• Use other theories as evaluation
• Describe evidence relating to the models
• Discuss limitations of these models

3
The Importation Model
The notorious British Prisoner, Charles Bronson
(Michael Gordon Peterson), who has spent 35 years
in prison, 28 of these in solitary confinement,
after taking at least 50 prisoners and guards
hostage, starting numerous riots, arson attacks,
roof top protests and causing over 500,000
damage. He was convicted of armed robbery in
1974. He got away with 27. he has been dubbed
Britains most dangerous criminal

• Violence is not a product of the institution
• Inmates have certain predispositions for violence
• These personal characteristics are imported into
  the prison
• Violence is a product of the individual
  characteristics of the inmates

4
The Deprivation Model
A Solitary confinement cell at Abu Ghraib
detention centre, Iraq

• Imprisonment deprives inmates of freedoms,
  normal relationships, comfort, privacy, control
  etc.
• This deprivation causes stress and frustration
• Frustration leads to violence towards other
  inmates and staff

5
The Managerial Model

• The decisions made by prison managers can affect
  aggression in prisons
• Inappropriate security measures, improper
  classification of prisoner, poor training and
  poor professionalism can increase the number of
  assaults in prisons

Prison Guards tackle perceived prisoner
indiscipline during the Stanford Prison
Experiment (Zimbardo, 1973)
6
Evidence Supporting the Importation Model

• Many of the inmates behaviour are due to the
  cultural and personal characteristics brought in
  by the prisoners on arrival (Irwin and Cressey,
  1962)
• The researchers suggest that younger inmates are
  more likely to be aggressive
• They suggest that people from impoverished
  backgrounds will be more aggressive
• They suggest that people from different ethnic
  background will display differing degrees of
  aggression, but this may be due to being from
  different socio-economic backgrounds

7
More Evidence Supporting the Importation Model

• Keller and Wang (2005) reported that prison
  violence occurs in prisons which hold the most
  troublesome inmates
• Facilities which holding maximum-security inmates
  had higher levels of assault on staff by inmates
  than those in lower-security facilities.
  Maximum-security prisoners are, by definition,
  considered violently dangerous, so the prisoners
  already have a pre-disposition to aggressive
  behaviour before they arrive
• Earlier research from 4 different types of
  juvenile institutions found that
  pre-institutional violence was the best predictor
  for inmate aggression, regardless of the specific
  features of the institution. (Poole and Regoli,
  1983)

8
Statistics

• Many critics point to prisons statistics to
  support the argument that aggression is imported
  into prisons
• 26 of men and 19 of women are in prison because
  of violence against the person, so nearly a
  quarter of prisoners have a history of aggressive
  behaviour.
• 41 of men and 30 of women were excluded from
  school, suggesting pre-existing behavioural
  issues as children.

9
Limitations of the Importation Model

• This model suggests no practical application on
  how to manage violent offenders or how to reduce
  prison violence in general. (Mc Corkle et al.,
  1995)
• A study on 800 violent gang members showed that
  they were no more or less likely to be violent
  once inside prison (DeLisi et al., 2004)

10
Comparisons

• The importation model suggests that the issue is
  with the prisoner. How does this differ from the
  deprivation and managerial models?
• Supporters of the deprivation and managerial
  models would suggest that the situation needs to
  change, where as the importation model suggests
  that the institution needs to change is
  aggression is to be controlled

11
Implications and Applications

• Implications Some critics suggest that the
  importation model is a negative approach, in that
  very little can be done unless the prisoner
  characteristics are changed.
• Applications The theory will lead to greater
  focus on the individual, maybe trying to change
  his/her behaviour through training or medication,
  although the risk is that this leads to abuse
  towards prisoners, and a negative attitude
  towards prisoners, perpetuating the violence

12
IDA

• Point This theory is socially sensitive
• Explain It has a negative view on prisoners,
  which can lead to labelling people as a certain
  type.
• So what?
• What do you think are the consequences of this
  type of labelling could be, both in and out of
  the prison setting?