Social Perception and Aggressive Behavior in Convicts (Theoretical Assumptions and Research Project Draft), (From International Center for Comparative Criminology, V 2 - The Criminal Personality, P 77-97, 1977, Alice Parizeau, ed. - See NCJ-70503)

• NCJ Number: 70509
• Author(s): M Toeplitz-Winiewska
• Date Published: 1977
• Length: 21 pages
• Publication Format: Document
• Language: English
• Country: Canada
• Note: Paper presented at conference held at Warsaw (Poland) in 1976

Annotation

The relationship between aggressive prisoner behavior and inmates' perception of the physical and social prison environment explored.

Abstract

Aggressive human behavior is a result of specifc emotions such as anger or irritation, an instrument to satisfy needs, or an implicit requirement of particular tasks ('goal-centered aggression'). Studies suggest that individuals in the prison setting display higher habitual aggressive behavior than control groups, probably because of aggressive models at home and in subculture groups. An aggressive reaction may erupt when a prisoner has stored hostility about matters over which he has no control. Cognitive structures affect aggressive behavior significantly: cognitively less complex individuals react more aggressively than more complex personalities, and people in conflict with society express greater hostility than properly socialized individuals. Furthermore, people are more likely to be hostile toward individuals perceived as disssimilar, and the prison setting encourages one to differentiate oneself subjectively from others. Prison fosters aggression because it deprives inmates of basic psychological needs (e.g., security, heterosexual relationships), and thereby provokes such negative emotions as anger and anxiety. In addition, the social norms of the inmate subculture favor aggression as a basic form of interaction, influencing the social perception of incarcerated individuals. A 13-item bibliography is furnished. --in English.