Exploring the factors that influence outbreaks of violence in prison settings can eventually lead to a decline in

prison violence

For the purpose of this essay, prison violence will be defined as the attempted of threatened harm towards
another inmate or staff within the prison, which can be physical or sexual aggression. This prison-orientated
research seeks to establish the various factors arousing prison violence. In turn, this could lead to a safer
environment for both inmates and prison officers by prompting the government to invest in new schemes.
Furthermore, it would aid criminologists knowledge of the effects of incarcerated individuals. Whilst being in-
prisoned for long periods has always been a stressful situation, the incidences of frequent violent assaults is a
recent phenomenon.1 It therefore gives us incentive to explore what factors have changed to attribute to these
increasing dangerous environments. It is common for the dangerous nature of prisons to be blamed on the
deviant personalities of inmates. However since research has been conducted in recent years, it has been found
that situational variables can be largely influential on anti-social behaviour.
Environmental psychology is concerned with the ‘interrelationship between behaviour and experience and the
build and nature environment’ (Bell et al 1990). When studying in prisons, this element of psychology will be
essential in researching the influence of different conditions.

It is well known that prison has the potential to exacerbate preexisting psychological vulnerabilites, like mental
illness.2 A link was made between this and violence by several researchers. Cooke and Goldstein (1989)
summarise the implications for inmates experiencing social isolation in prison as ‘confusing reality with their
idiosyncratic beliefs.” Data collected in the Pelican Bay showed that long-term isolation led to a series of
aggressive traits which included spontaneous violent outbursts.3 Whilst this study was based on self-report
from prisoners, it has limitations in terms of prisoners becoming unaware of psychological issues they
experience because of getting used to the conditions of prison. This meant the study could not properly control
for the influences of their violence. As a result, it raises the questions of whether the researcher should be more
involved in observing factors beyond the knowledge of the inmates, rather than primarily relying on prisoners
experiences

The world Health Organisation (WHO) defined measures to reduce harm in prison by including the issue to
do with overcrowding.4 This is defined by correction administrators as when the population rises beyond 80%
capacity (Klofas and Stojkovic 1992). The issue with prison population capacity has been an ongoing challenge
for many countries, particularly the UK since 1994. Currently, there are over 24% of prisoners in overcrowded
conditions in the UK.5 We can expect this to continue from reviewing the average 3.4% growth rate a year and
the minimal effects of government schemes in the last 12 years.6 In 1978, the Home Office found in local
prisons with high populations (12,742 versus 4,077), that the average assaults per prison was 45. When
compared to smaller prisons, the average was just 13.8.7 Although these statistics are fairly dated, they still
suggest that local prisons, known to significantly exceed their capacity, are potentially creating a violent
environment for inmates. In more recent years, there has been a reduction in community sentences; halved
from 200,000 between 2006 and 2016.8 Simultaneously, increases in prison sentence durations for specific

1
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0013916584163001 page 276
2
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1462474517705389 page 323
3
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0011128702239239 page 137
4
WHO Regional Office for Europe 2005 Status paper on prisons, drugs and harm reduction
5
Cumberland Lodge ‘How to reduce prison overcrowding- some practical solutions
https://www.cumberlandlodge.ac.uk/sites/default/files/public/How%20to%20Reduce%20Prison%20
Over-Crowding.pdf
6

http://www.prisonreformtrust.org.uk/portals/0/documents/bromley%20briefings/summer%202017%
20factfile.pdf
7
https://ac.els-cdn.com/0047235280900021/1-s2.0-0047235280900021-main.pdf?_tid=2aabb324-
0593-4434-b3f0-9b946881bf9a&acdnat=1522931397_77e1a0c11506972d9c5df2883a6a474a
page 226
8
ibis
crimes; sexual offences have increased from an average of 40 months to 51 months since 2002.9 When
comparing these to the levels of assaults, inmate outbreak of violence on staff during this period almost
quadrupled.10 These statistics give a basis overview of how overcrowding and violence have a correlation.
These findings give some recognition to why there has been a recent issue with levels of prison violence.
Although this is thought to be a significant factor, some studies have shown no correlation between the two
factors. Whilst researchers like Gaes and McGuire have found crowding to be the most influential factor,11
even this research has shown a degree of inelasticity, where the independent variable had to change
significantly for the dependent variable to change simultaneously. Sechrest did not find a significant
association. It was concluded after reviewing these studies that crowding levels served to increase the
importance of other environmental stimuli, rather than working as a independent factor (Freedman 1975).
However previous research has been limited to using a

Atmospheric conditions has been found to link to aggression. The findings show as temperature moves outside
an individual’s comfort zone, this can lead to aggression (Baron and Bell 1975). This has been applied in
prison settings as thermal discomfort is common and complaints were found to be frequent in terms of being
too hot (Goldblatt 1972). One correlation made after riots in USA 1968, was how the heat had attributed to
these outbreaks (U.S Riot Commission 1968). Other studies documenting these conditions, found that assault
rates were higher in summer months (Megargee 1977). This was supported by further findings of the highest
homicide rates emerging in August (Sylvester and al 1977). However these studies deters from applying
numerous factors to prison violence. This therefore gives promise to my research proposal on finding whether
various factors in unison contribute to prison violence.

Sylvester et al 1977 found that 66% of prisons experiencing riots were in populations of more than 500
prisoners and the rest were of smaller populations

Violence in prison can undermine efforts to serve the purpose of punishment and rehabilitate.

However, it is important to consider the influence of prison staff in this context. The Stanford Prison
Experiment concluded that the environment can also promote violent behaviour in correctional personnel.12
Breakdown in management and staff shortages can lead to guard mistreatments and increase violent outbreaks
amongst prisoners in riots.

Questions which remain around this research are the contrasting observations made from inmates and prison
staff on the factors related to violence in prison. Considering violence does not always source from those
detained, it is viable to evaluate the factors from both points of view. For this reason, two sub-questions which
I propose to research are ‘What are the influencing factors of violent prison incidents discussed in various
prison officers interviews?’ and ‘How do prisoners describe and explain the influencing factors?’

As well as the implications of governmental costs, overcrowding is detrimental for inmate and prison
staff safety. Especially during the recent staff shortage- 28% reduction in frontline operational staff.13
Many prison staff claim their line of work is unsafe, as protests in November 2016 demonstrated their
concern with inmates violence. Although it is suggested the lack of staff is causing these outbreaks, there
is little empirical evidence on what genesises inmate-staff assaults.14 For this reason, it would be

9
https://www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/resources/criminal-justice-harsher-and-more-punitive-ever
10
https://fullfact.org/crime/state-prisons-england-and-wales/
11
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0022427885022001003
12
Craig Haney et Interpersonal Dynamics in a Stimulated Prison 1 INT’L J.
CRIMINOLOGY & PENOLOGY 69, 93–94 (1973).
13

https://www.cumberlandlodge.ac.uk/sites/default/files/public/How%20to%20Reduce%20Prison%20
Over-Crowding.pdf
14
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0032855594074003004 page 335
beneficial to conduct a sub-question, regarding the variables of crowding levels and inmate-staff ratio
in unison. The research would also focus on the underlying contribution of overcrowding on these
assaults. This would conjoin sufficiently with the shortage of prison officers currently and would make
this research very appropriate. If this research were to undergo, it could aid the government to revaluate
decisions for reducing capacity of prisons and potentially invest more in private prisons. It could also
help address the problem with reoffending. Addressing the violence problem more thoroughly, an
additional sub-aim could arise with regards to age of inmates causing the problem.“Could age be a
contributing factor?” Similarly with the variable inmate-prison staff ratio, there is limited research on
overcrowding conducted with an additional variable, such as age. Research already done has shown that
crowding is most influential on youth institutions15 Instead these proximal factors are measured
independently. If there is a relationship between age-crowding levels and violence, there could be a
proposal to monitor this age bracket more closely.

Structure:
Intro explaining the topic and brief overview of the research design(questionaires interviews and sampling)
qualitative interviewing focusing on perspectives of prisoners rather than discouraging question to only be
answered. Let the interviewee give spontaneous follow up questions based on the response to see whether
other factors may influence violence

literature review 500 words (10 or more articles)summarising the debate and issues from literature
(books/journals etc) i

Discuss ways of researching the topic- why you want to use these methods, recruitment plans and ethical
issues- USE READING LIST TO JUSTIFY WHY APPROPRIATE AND WHY IS IT BETTER THAN
OTHER METHODS- DO THIS AS YOU GO ALONG NOT AT THE END

20 references

Studies do not control for the types of inmates in the prisons- therefore when the prisoners are shown to be
violent, you need to show that this is directly a result of the crowding levels and not the violent nature of the
individual.
This can be done by testing prisoners before they go into prisons using aggressive scores
therefore study will be longitudinal the number of assaults per person may not be significant, therefore will
have to be conducted over a long period
other problems will be suspended sentences, suicide, death, sentence which are not long enough for enough
data
use participants who are not considered to be violent
use a control group
interview and design survey to test violence
use a large population size (problem with previous study was not enough people used)
new research (most is dated)
carefully define overcrowded- use prisons of similar ration of overcrowded
acquire a basic knowledge of the administrative system wit h the Department of Correlatioins which will give
better hopes of a smooth research process that does not disturb the complex jobs the officers have to do (fox
et al 2011)
if testing for testosterone

15
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0022427885022001003 page 43
Obstacles which may interrupt my research relate to the difficulties in obtaining permission to interview
prisoners and staff. The requirements of studying inmates are different and it would be wise to shadow other
researchers in prison if the opportunity arrises. Although novices are rarely given access, this proposal hopes
to counteract the issue of violence which can be beneficial to a wide body of people. For this reason it is likely
to spark interest for the Prison Board. Arguably the biggest empirical problem would be complications in
interviews between prison staff and particularly prisoners. A degree of distrust could develop between the
researcher and inmates on the outset of the proposal if they do not feel properly informed about the purpose of
its application.16 Questions will need to be carefully conducted in order to keep the inmates content with the
nature of the research. An implication of this is the researcher may struggle to uncover answers as the questions
are not direct. However as this cannot be practised beforehand, prisoners may become hostile or triggered from
certain aspects of the interview. Leading from this, the safety of the researcher must be considered, especially
as interviews will need to take place with violent inmates one-on-one. For this reason, it is important that the
category of prison is chosen wisely, perhaps only gaining samples from Category C and D prisons where the
interviews can take place in the inmates room. In addition, a pilot study would be essential in avoiding hostility
and from certain questions remaining unanswered.

As gaining access to research in prison can be difficult, and these are not usually given to novices, it is
important that the methodology of the research is planned appropriately.17Based on the sub-questions requiring
prisoners to associate the factors which triggers violence, a semi-structured interview would be most
appropriate. Preparing for this would entail crafting themes

Finding the underlying reasons for prison violence may require innovative use of language. For example,
asking “why might violence be committed in prison by inmates?” By doing this it avoids feelings of guilt as
the questions are not directly related to the prisoner.18

Involving offenders in research poses great challenges to both the researcher and the subject. Particularly in
the case of inmates, they are considered more vulnerable and carry more risks of research than the general
population (Hornblum 1998). Unlike voluntary studies conducted outside prisons, inmates cannot discuss the
whether engaging in such research would be harmful or not to them.19 For this reason, an ethics review should
be conducted, debating the potential benefits and harms of this study; this should be done prior to the research.20
As it is not considered ethically sound to pay offenders for admitting offensive acts, it is vital that this study
poses minimal inconvenience. Inmates may also deter away from participating if they believe there are no
direct benefits (National Commission 1976). However other incentives to participate could be exchanging soft
drinks or snacks, so the inmates feel humane. This is similarly done in USA under The Code of Federal
Regulations (section 512.16). Thinking long term, if inmates are aware they will be incarcerated for long
periods, they may wish to disclose information knowing that it can improve their quality of life in prison.

16
ibis page 9
17
http://methods.sagepub.com.manchester.idm.oclc.org/base/download/BookChapter/doing-
criminological-research/d149.xml page 3
18
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1077800408318325 page 1506
19
ibis page 9
20
Economic and Social Research Council Shaping Society- Our expectations of ethics review
Although the participants would be volunteers, based on the common feeling of loss of autonomy and freedom,
they may participate with the wrong intentions. As a result, the aftermath of this research may be damaging to
their mental health, such as experiencing anxiety for confessing details of assaults they committed against
staff, which they may feel could jeopardise liberty rights in prison.21 Self-esteem must also be considered since
the research measures psychological variables (Milgrim 1974).

Confidentiality in this research could loosen based on the questions regarding violence. There are legal
obligations which require researchers to report information to authorities which may help an unsolved crime
(Newman 1958). Considering the interview is semi-structured, there is a possibility that inmates could reveal
vital information. This could cause implications in terms of breaking the trust between the interviewee and
interviewer and in worse case scenarios terminate interviews. To overcome this, prior to the interview, consent
forms should be given to participants with a detailed overview which they are required to sign. An additional
necessity for a pilot study would be to ensure the consent form gave enough depth into the research. It has
been advised that the language of consent forms should be composed at a twelve year olds reading level, to
make it accessible to all.22Therefore by giving the inmates reassure of confidentiality, it is likely to engage the
participants more thoroughly with the interviews and hopefully, as the interviewee, gain further insight in their
responses (Israel and Hay 2006). In addition, protecting the inmates from psychological harm is increased as
any distress which may have been caused by lack of confidentiality is eradicated. To avoid harm further, it is
the best interest of the participant to be informed thoroughly of the details of the experiment (British Society
of Criminology 2006 para 7). By allowing them to understand the information could be used to improve the
conditions of prisons and potentially reduce recidivism. Feed backing results to inmates during debriefs can
make them aware that their violence may be sourced from factors beyond their control; crowding levels.
There is also an element of independence in this study which promotes inmates with the feeling of purpose
with what they contribute (Levine 1978).

As the inmates will be interviewed before they enter the prison, giving the researcher an analysis of their
aggression levels, this proposes limitations in terms of the sample size available at the end of the longitudinal
study. There are factors which may terminate participants involvement, such as suspended sentences, death,
opting out of the study or psychological harm from the experiment. Unfortunately with prison studies, this
could be a risk which is unavoidable and may limit the sample size, an issue which prior researchers have
encountered.

21
Criminology Skills by emily finch and stefan fafinski page 286
22
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1077800408318325 page 1507