INSTITUTIONAL AGGRESSION

INSTITUTIONAL AGGRESSION; WITHIN GROUPS

Importation model; Irwin & Cressey 1962 claim that prisoners bring their
own social histories and traits with them into prison, which influences their
adaptation to prison environment
Allender & Marcell 2003, gang membership is constantly related to
violence in forms of antisocial behaviour. Found that gang members
disproportionately engage in acts of prison violence. Pre-prison gang
membership important determinant of prison misconduct. Huff 1998 found
gang members in the US were 10x more likely to assault someone in
public that non-gang members of similar age and background
Deprivation model argues prisoner of patient aggression is product of
stressful and oppressive conditions in the institution. Include; crowding
and length of service. Hodgkinson found trainee nurses more likely to
suffer violent assault than experienced nurses
Sykes 1958 thought loss of liberty, loss of autonomy and loss of security
lead to increased violence. Sykes found potential threat to personal
security increased anxiety levels in inmates. Inmates cope of pains of
imprisonment by; withdraw through seclusion or rebel in forms of violence
against other prisoners & staff
Model received support in terms of individual factors. Harer 2006 collected
data from 58 US prisoners and found that black inmates had significantly
higher rates of alcohol related & drug related misconducts that white
inmates. Patterns parallel with behaviours in US society with racial
differences
DeLisi 2004 challenges claim that pre-prison gang membership predicts
violence whilst in prison. Found inmates with prior street gang
involvement were no more likely than other inmates to engage in prison
violence. Reasoning; violent gang members tend to be isolated from the
general inmate population
Evidence to support claim of peer violence used to relieve the deprivation
imposed by institutional cultures. McCorkle 1995 found overcrowding and
lack of meaningful activity increased peer violence. Nijiman 1999 found
increased personal space failed to decrease level of violent incidents
Jiang & Fisher-Giorlando 2002 found support for deprivation and
importation model as explanations of prison violence. Found deprivation
model was better able to explain violence against prison staff whereas
importation model better at explanations of violence between inmates.
Poole challenged deprivation model as found best indicator of prison
violence among juvenile offenders was pre-institutional violence
regardless of situational factors

IDA; David Wilson made prison environments less hot, noisy and
overcrowded. Set up 2 units. Despite changes eradicated prison violence,
units were change back as too unfair for prisoners to be given nice
environment

INSTITUTIONAL AGGRESSION BETWEEN GROUPS: GENOCIDE

Staub 1999; five stages in the process of genocide; difficult social

conditions, scapegoating of a less powerful group, negative evaluation and
dehumanisation of target group, moral values and rules inapplicable,
passivity of bystanders enhances process
Moral inhibitions change if target group is dehumanised so that members
seen as worthless animals
Milgram believed the holocaust was caused primarily by the result of
situational pressures. Argues many p in his study could administer painful
electrical shocks to a victim simply because they were told to do so by
someone with authority
Staubs model emphasises importance of bystander intervention in
preventing genocide. Bystander intervention does not necessarily end
institutional aggression as there is an importance difference to
intervention on duration and severity of violence
Evidence for destructive consequences of dehumanisation can be seen in
many conflicts. Dehumanisation also explains violence against immigrants
Mandel 1998 rejects Milgrams claim of obedience to authority. Argues
Milgrams account is monocausal and does not match historical records
IDA; research suggests that personality can play an important role in
violence against refugees. Social Dominance Orientation is a personality
variable which predicts social hierarchies and inter-group inequality. Esses
demonstrated that individuals with high SDO have a tendency to
dehumanise outgroup members. High SDO lack sympathy for refugees in
general