NCJ Number
89616
Date Published
Unknown
Length
7 pages
Annotation
Statistical analyses of the available archival data were sufficiently powerful to reveal the extent to which elements of social and criminal history can help explain why blacks, youth, or State-boarders have become violence-prone groups in the Federal Prison System (FPS).
Abstract
Criminal history elements that were the best predictive elements for blacks and State-boarders were severity of current offense and for blacks and young inmates, a prior history of serious violence. These elements of criminal history reflect the violent behavioral tendencies of the inmates prior to their current incarceration. The element of social history that predicted violence for all three groups was unemployment, and for young or black inmates, both drug problems and inferior education were predictive of prison violence. Persons who abuse drugs, are undereducated, or unemployed live in a state of social dislocation which contributes to the use of coercion or violence, because they are alienated from the mainstream of culture and social morals that emphasizes nonviolent methods for resolving interpersonal conflict and satisfying basic needs. The findings suggest that an inmate's involvement in education, drug abuse treatment, and vocational training can counteract the influences that perpetuate and reinforce the use of violence. Predictive data can also be used to suggest the violence risk of an inmate. A foreseeable product from the study of inmate violence is an evaluative instrument that can be used by FPS staff to gauge the risk of violence posed by an inmate. The utility of this screening tool would be greater at upper security level facilities, where base rates of violence are higher than the overall FPS average. Tables and charts of the findings are provided.