NCJ Number
97435
Editor(s)
M Braswell,
S Dillingham,
R Montgomery
Date Published
1985
Length
181 pages
Annotation
Eleven articles address prison violence from a variety of perspectives and suggest policy options and remedial measures for more effective prevention and coping strategies.
Abstract
The typology of violence presented incorporates various forms of behavioral control, the interplay of instrumental and expressive goals, and roles and power relationships. Further, an overview of the costs, causal theories, and key concerns related to prison riots is provided, and the emergence of such violent behavior is attributed to the interplay of personal dispositions and situational stimuli. In addition, the history of prison riots is reviewed, and Michigan's correctional system is examined as a case study. Prison riots at Attica and Santa Fe are compared, and the importance of focusing upon specific forms of violence, such as sexual harassment, is cited. The relationship between determinate sentencing and inmate misconduct in California and Oregon prisons is analyzed, and the dysfunctional consequences of prison overcrowding are examined. Also, it is argued that modern prison policies and practices lack a treatment philosophy and policy that matches resources with goals. Finally, the experience of incarceration is characterized from the late 1940's to the present, and the need for effective teaching and training techniques to deal with prison violence is emphasized. Approximately 250 references and a subject index are included.