Discuss institutional aggression. (8 marks + 16 marks) * The importation model has some support from research studies. * DeLisi et al. found a slight positive correlation between gang membership and aggression in prison, * This suggests that aggression factors from before entering prison influence aggression in prison. * However, the relationship may not be causal as there may be intervening variables such as socioeconomic status or ethnicity.
* According to this theory, interpersonal violence is not a product of the institution itself, but rather the characteristics of the individuals in the institution * Younger rather than older individuals are said to have a more difficult time adjusting in prisons and therefore are more likely to clash with other inmates – Adams 1981 * Research shown that black inmates when compared to white, are more likely to be associated with interpersonal violence – explanation is that black prisons enter the prisons from more impoverished communities with higher rates of violent crime – thus, import the violence due to cultural norms. * Deprivation model – Claims that the violence is due to the institution itself rather than the individuals. This model argues that it is the experience of imprisonment that causes the inmates extreme stress and frustration and which in turn leads to violence and aggression * Harer and Steffenmeier – Argue that the reasoning for inmate’s behaviour is due to the problems of
Any arrests outside of the state would not be included as the date of failure. An additional limitation of the study is that it is possible that the relationship between drug treatment and reduced recidivism is due to unmeasured and unknown variables predicting both. The final limitation is that the research does not differentiate between in-program recidivism and post-program recidivism. Be able to differentiate between the two is necessary because of the probability that subjects behave differently when being directly supervised by the court. Despite the limitations found in the BCDTC, the findings of the research proved that subjects who participated in the DTC were less likely to be rearrested than the control group.
However Blackburn critiques Eyesneck saying it's unclear to what psychotosism is measuring it appears to be linked to psychopathic tendencies but not consistently. Questionnaires are also hard way to measure traits as they may not even appear in real life, people may be more stable in real life.
Becker argued that it is not a certain behaviour or act that is deviant but it is how we react to it that makes it deviant. Therefore ‘deviance’ is a relative concept as there is no fix agreement on what they mean For example homosexuality was labelled deviant and illegal in the past but now the same behaviour is acceptable. Becker famously said “a deviant is simply someone to whom the label has been successfully applied” therefore crime and deviance are the product of the labelling processes. However some sociologist point out that this argument implies that deviancy wouldn’t exist without labelling however sociologist Cohen argues that crime and deviance will exist from when there is status frustration. Cohen argues that Working class boys are often at the bottom of the status hierarchy because of failing the opportunity structure of education and the inability to get a good job.
Also the prisoners may have being individualized because they are now a part of a group and will conform to their group; this can be an example of a dispositional explanation because they may earn respect from other prisoners within their group. A behaviourist explanation can also explain this situation as they would say that prison contains role models which other prisoners can be vicariously taught through the social learning theory. However this experiment is only in the USA which makes it ethnocentric and cannot apply for those living in other countries and those with different cultural views. Men are predominantly more aggressive according to a biological explanation which states that high levels of testosterone can be linked to aggression. This was researched by Clare 2000.
A lot of research into institutional aggression has focused on aggressive behaviour in prisons, and has led to the development of two theories: the importation model and the deprivation model. Phychologists have proposed two majour explanations for aggresion between prioners and Prisons. Interpersonal factors (Importation model) and Situational factors (Deprivation Model). The importation model (Irwin and Cressey, 1962) This explanation focuses on the personality characteristics that prison inmates take into the prison with them. For example inmates with values, attitudes, experiences, and social
The focus of the study was to understand the individual experiences of punishment, in particular the perspective of each inmate’s experience, life change, and adjustment in a prison environment. The questions were tailored to understand and answer the focus of the study. According to Frederique and Sexton (2014), how do they understand and orient to being in prison? Do they interpret punishment in different
Summary and Response In Peter Moskos’s “In Lieu of Prison, Bring Back the Lash”, he argues that prisons are an ineffective and expensive form of punishment and suggests corporal punishment be used as an alternative. Moskos points out that prisons are severely overcrowded and come at an astronomical cost. He then gives a quick history of the prison system, stating it was created as a more humane option to replace corporal punishment, which was viewed negatively in our new country. Moskos states prisons were intended to rehabilitate criminals much in the way hospitals heal the physically or mentally ill. The author describes prisons as internment camps used for practically free labor and says while some criminals need to be incarcerated, most do not.
“Deviance” is defined by the Oxford Dictionary (2013) as “The fact or state of diverging from usual or accepted standards, especially in social or sexual behaviour”. This is not always a “criminal act” but something that is not a social norm or socially accepted within a certain society. These social “norms” differ between different societies as all societies are different and have different ways of living. For example, deviant behaviour in a family home may be a child staying out later than the time that they have been set by their parents. This is not a criminal act against the state.