institutional aggression

Question 1

what is institutional aggression?

Answer 1

refers to aggression within institutions (prisons, armed forces)

Question 2

what are the 2 explanations for institutional aggression?

Answer 2

• dispositional explanation
• situational explanation

Question 3

what is the dispositional explanation for aggression?

Answer 3

aggression is higher in prisons because people who are sent to prison have a disposition towards aggression (naturally more aggressive)

Question 4

what model is linked to the dispositional explanation and who proposed it?

Answer 4

the importation model
(Irwin and Cresey)

Question 5

what is the importation model?

Answer 5

suggests that prisons aren’t totally isolated from the outside world, and therefore prisoners might ‘import’ violence from outside, into prison

Question 6

what does Irwin and Cresey suggest prisoners bring with them into prison?

Answer 6

violent behaviour, personal histories, norms, experiences, attitudes and traits

Question 7

what do prisoners establish from using aggression in prisons

Answer 7

power, influence, status and resources

Question 8

Irwin and Cresey say that aggression is a product of…

Answer 8

individual characteristics, not the environment

Question 9

who has supporting research for the dispositional explanation?

Answer 9

DeLisi

Question 10

outline DeLisi’s research + findings

Answer 10

• studied 813 juvenile delinquents from institutions in California
• inmates had several negative dispositional factors, including: childhood trauma, increased anger, substance abuse and violent behaviour
• these inmates were more likely to engage in suicidal activity, sexual conduct and physical violence, than a control group of inmates with fewer negative dispositional factors

Question 11

how do DeLisi’s findings link to the importation model?

Answer 11

• suggests that dispositional traits, as opposed to the prison environment,
  may be a more important predictor of aggression

Question 12

who researched ethnicity as a dispositional explanation?

Answer 12

Gaes

Question 13

outline Gaes’ research and findings

Answer 13

• studied 82,000 US inmates
• found that Hispanics were found to be more violent than Asian inmates

Question 14

how do Gaes’ findings link to the importation model?

Answer 14

• shows that ethnicity correlates with aggression
• supports importation model as it suggests the inmates must have been socialised differently outside of prison and it is this that leads to aggression, not situational factors

Question 15

what is the situational explanation for aggression?

Answer 15

explains that the prison environment deprives prisoners, leading to aggression

Question 16

what model is linked to the situational explanation and who proposed it?

Answer 16

• the deprivation model
  (Clemmer)

Question 17

what is the deprivation model?

Answer 17

• suggests that aggression in prisons, and other institutions, is a result of the institution itself

Question 18

what conditions did Clemmer suggest may lead to aggression?

Answer 18

harsh conditions: stress, oppression, lack of heterosexual intimacy, safety and poor access to goods and services

Question 19

how does deprivation lead to actual aggression?

Answer 19

material deprivation may turn inmates to violence, to get what they want
- increases the competition
for such resources and causes disputes, which are often only resolved through violence

Question 20

who has supporting research for the deprivation model?

Answer 20

Steiner

Question 21

outline Steiner’s research and findings

Answer 21

• researched 512 US prisoners
• found that ‘inmate on inmate’ violence was more common in prisons with higher proportions of female staff (due to frustration at lack of sexual intimacy)
• and in prisons with more inmates in protective custody, for their own safety (lack of freedom)

Question 22

evaluation dispositional explanation: supporting research (Adams)

Answer 22

ID: a strength of the dispositional explanation for aggression is that there is supporting research
Q: this comes from Adams, who did researched inmates in American prisons
EV: Adams found that black inmates were more likely to be associated with violent acts, in comparison to white inmates. these black inmates tended to come from poorer backgrounds with cultural norms of criminality.
AN: this supports the importation model because in prison, prisoners use aggression to establish power, influence, status and resources. this convict-subculture reflects the ways prisoners used aggression outside of prison to get what they wanted.

Question 23

evaluation situational explanation: real-life applications

Answer 23

ID: a strength of the situational explanation for aggression is that it has real-life applications
Q: there are practical applications in our understanding that the prison environment can lead to aggression
EV: for example, Wilson. set up 2 units in HMP Woodhill, where the overcrowding was reduced, music introduced to reduce noisy conditions and temperatures carefully controlled. he found that initiating these conditions was a successful way to lower levels of aggression.
AN: this is a strength because when the prison environment became more relaxed and calming, aggression reduced in inmates. this supports the deprivation model as it suggests that certain variables can stimulate aggression.

Question 24

overall evaluation: gender bias

Answer 24

ID: gender bias
Q: most of the research has been conducted on male prisoners, so little is known about reasons for female violence in prisons
EV: for example, it would be androcentric to presume that the same reasons for male violence can be used to explain female aggression. therefore, the research can be accused of exhibiting beta bias. it may be that males import aggression into the prison environment, but there may be differences to the extent that dispositional or situational factors affect each gender
AN: this highlights a key issue with this explanation as the findings cannot be generalised to all females, due to a small, androcentric sample, meaning further research is needed on female prison violence, to provide a full conclusion of institutional aggression

Question 25

overall evaluation: interactionist model (Jiang and Fisher-Giorlando) (Dobbs and Waid)

Answer 25

ID: an interactionist approach may better explain institutional aggression Q: the interactionist model suggests that both situational and dispositional explanations of institutional aggression are important EV: for example, Jiang and Fisher-Giorlando. suggest that the dispositional explanation may best explain violence between inmates, whilst situational explanations may best explain aggression towards staff. Dobbs and Waid. support an interactionist approach as they believe prisoners do feel deprivation, but these have to combine with the imported characteristics of prisoners to create the prison culture of aggression and violence. AN: therefore, this might be a more valid explanation than either the dispositional or situational explanations alone, because the reduction of aggression to just 1 factor is not concordant with prison aggression as a whole. a more interactionist approach takes into account more variables, allowing for more valid conclusions to be drawn