NCJ Number
225447
Journal
British Journal of Criminology Volume: 48 Issue: 6 Dated: November 2008 Pages: 856-873
Date Published
November 2008
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This study examined the occurrence of fights, assaults, arguments, and threats of violence between adult male prisoners in an English category C prison (minimum security).
Abstract
The findings indicate that the male prisoners who felt insecure about their self-worth and social status in relation to others were at risk for aggression. A background of chaotic, unstable, and problematic social interactions can result in an insecure identity permeated by low self-esteem and the tendency to be defensive and become hostile when not treated with respect or deference. Aggression may be an especially important means of ego defense for male prisoners due to their limited access to alternative means of showing their social worth and esteem-building skills to an appreciative audience. Within the inmate culture, “toughness” and “manliness” are admired within the prison subculture, so those who seek to impress their fellow inmates, thus building their self-worth, will behave aggressively. On the other hand, stable, loving, and supportive social interactions apparently lead to the development of a secure identity that feels little need to be defensive or become hostile when they are not shown respect or deference. This study used a random stratified sampling technique in order to recruit 89 adult male prisoners from an English minimum-security prison. Regression analyses found that narrative themes of shame and masculinity predicted participants’ involvement in confrontations, while controlling for possible confounding behavioral, demographic, sentencing, personality, and cognitive variables. The self-narratives of 20 men who did not engage in any confrontations during a 1-month followup period were analyzed and compared to the self-narratives of 20 men who engaged in the most confrontations during the same time frame. 81 references