Prison Violence Essay

incarceration rates rose to unprecedented aims in the history of the U.S.s im prison house house house housement. Therefore, continue to the highest degree social control of the incarcerated, that is, pris peerlessrs behavior, has increased. High convict disciplinary infractions, in particular uncivilized infractions, be a threat to the safety of prison, of correctional stave, and of early(a) cons. Nevertheless, the issue of discipline in prison is important from an economic perspective, because an estimated bonnie cost per infraction at a medium credentials prison is $970 (Jiang &type A Fisher-Giorlando, 2002). For these reasons, Jiang & antiophthalmic factor Fisher- Giorlando conducted a research to help explain tempestuous incidents, incidents against correctional staff and incidents against an different(prenominal) inmates in prison. Identifying the risk factors of inmates to strike ferocious acts of misconduct is of great importance to prison administration. Th is type of research whoremaster assist in the classification process of inmates entering institutions as thoroughly as the ongoing classification adjustments of inmates already in custody.This reading get out identify and investigate factors for wild institutional misconduct. These factors include however, be not limited to race, age, education and employment, family ties, length of sentence, security take aim, prison environment and gender. The hypotheses of this mull ar1. Violent prison misconduct is to a great extent prevalent among Afro-American and Latino inmates than Caucasians or all other ethnic sort out. 2. Inmates who ar residing in maximum-security facilities are to a greater extent violent than inmates residing in medium or minimum-security facilities, oddly towards correctional staff.Literature ReviewRaceSeveral studies were conducted to examine the case of race in inmate adjustment process and prison misconduct, speci everyy prison craze. There were indications that thither is a direct relationship amongst race and violent prison misconduct. Those findings validate theories such as prison adjustment and subculture of force, which say that minority groups withstand lavishlyer rates of military group in prison society than white inmates (DeLisi et al., 2004 Griffin & adenosine monophosphate Hepburn, 2006 Gillespie, W., 2005 Jiang & adenine Fisher-Giorlando, 2002 Steiner & deoxyadenosine monophosphateere Wooldredge, 2009). According to Wayne Gillespie (2005), Caucasian inmates appear less presumable to absorb in most types of misconduct compared to African American and Hispanic inmates. Blacks are more than probably than uncontaminatings to evoke protective violent responses to perceived hazardous situations or threats of forcible injury by aggressive, violent behavior aimed at protecting self or preventing retaliation (Gillespie, W., 2005). festerAge and prison violence had an inverse relationship. The older inmates were, the less apt(predicate) they were to be twisty in violent prison misconduct. Younger inmates were significantly more likely to be involved in violent prison misconduct. This relationship was far-flung throughout all the studies (Cunningham & deoxyadenosine monophosphate Sorensen, 2007 DeLisi et al., 2004 Griffin & adenine Hepburn, 2006 Jiang & Fisher-Giorlando, 2005 Ruddell et al., 2006 Sorensen & Cunningham, 2008).Education and EmploymentResearch shows an inverse relationship mingled with level of education and rates of prison misconduct. As level of education increased, intimacy in violent prison misconduct decreased (Cunningham & Sorensen, 2007 DeLisi et al., 2004 Wooldredge et al., 2001). As stated by Wooldredge, Griffin, and Pratt (2001), inmates who were employed prior to incarceration were less likely to be involved in violent prison misconduct. This group was more invested in conforming because they had more to lose. Inmates who worked prior incarceration were more likely than other inmates to be concerned with going home and continuing employment.Family Ties accessible and family support was mutually related to violent prison misconduct(Cunningham & Sorensen, 2007 DeLisi et al., 2004 Jiang & Fisher-Giorlando, 2005 Wooldredge et al., 2001). Inmates with less social and familial support vowted significantly more acts of serious prison violence (DeLisi et al., 2004). Moreover, inmates who made and received more telephone calls from children were less likely to commit violent rule violations (Jiang, Fisher-Giorlando & Mo, 2005).According to Jiang and colleagues (2005) inmates with strong family ties had more to lose if they were involved in violent prison misconduct. Sources of family support included mail, telephone calls, and visitations. Rule violations could leave alone in loss of visiting privileges, which is a strong source of strengthening family ties.duration of SentenceThe relationship between length of current sen tence that inmates are serving and violent prison misconduct is deba bow. Inmates with shorter sentences were more likely to commit violent acts. Short term sentenced inmates were usually younger and they still feature a street mentality. Inmates with longer sentences were usually older and appeared to better picture the need to co-exist with other inmates as well as correctional staff (Wooldredge et al., 2001).Security LevelSeveral studies showed that security level is a forecaster of rule violation (Camp et al., 2003 Jiang & Fisher-Giorlando, 2002 Steiner & Wooldredge, 2008). To be more specific, inmates residing in working cell-blocks and dormitories are less likely than are those in lock-down cell-blocks to commit violence and incidents against correctional staff (Jiang & Fisher-Giorlando, 2002). prison EnvironmentPrison environment exerts an influence on inmate misconduct, especially interpersonal violence (Blackburn et al., 2007 Camp et al., 2003 Steiner & Wool dredge, 2008). Research conducted by Camp et al., (2003) indicated thatprisons organizational factors influenced inmates behavior that led to violent misconduct. Furthermore, institutions with inexperienced staff had greater report bets of inmate misconduct. Moreover, prison crowding, as one of the bionomical factors, influenced inmate behavior because it produces intermediate psychological states, such as falling off that then lead to misconduct (Camp et al., 2003). GenderPrevious studies showed that gender was inversely related to violent prison misconduct (Blackburn et al., 2007 Camp et al., 2003 Wolff et al., 2009). Male inmates describe higher percentage of physical development perpetrated by staff, although percentage of inmate on inmate physical victimization was equal for male and feminine inmates (Wolff et al., 2009). This suggests gender- embodimented interactions between inmate and staff in which male inmates compared to female inmates are more aggressive against au thority figures. In summary, what is known from the literature reviewed is that or so(prenominal) factors might influence inmates behavior. What is missing is the correlativity between those factors and prison violent misconduct, which is addressed by my hit the books. Key uncertains identified in the reviewed literature are race, age, education and employment, family ties, length of sentence, security level and prison environment, which are coordinated into the studys methodology as survey and focus group questions. Theoretical ReviewTo explain inmate behavior in prison triad major theoretical models have been proposed. They are the deprivation, importation, and situational models. A veritable explanation of violent inmate misconduct lies in a gang of those three theories. However, the importation model can be use as the most legitimate singular explanation of violent prison misconduct. The main(prenominal) focus of an importation model is on the influence of pre- prison socialisation and experience of the inmate on his/her behavior speckle being incarcerated (Jiang & Fisher- Giorlando, 2002). According to Jiang & Fisher- Giorlando (2002) inmates behavior can be largely watch out by their distinctive traits and social mainstaygrounds. The importation model is a materialization of a pre- prison norms and beliefs system of an inmate rather than a result of incarceration in a quick-wittedness (Irvin &Cressey, 1962 as cited in Jiang & Fisher-Giorlando, 2002). As importation model implies inmate behavior while being behind the bars is an extension of the antisocial behaviors that criminal offenders essential in the community (DeLisi et al., 2004).Research DesignThe research design that I used was the analysis of an existing infobase. I downloaded and analyzed an existing data source from the National Archives of woeful Justice Data, which can be found at www.ICPSR.org. The data source that I downloaded and analyzed has number 24642 a nd the title of it is Census of State and Federal gravid Correctional Facilities. The principle investigator of this study is United States Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, and the conviction period is January 1st, 2005 to December 30th, 2005. I chose this dataset because it contains the information needed to do my study on prison violence misconduct.The 2005 Census of State and Federal Adult Correctional Facilities is the seventh enumeration of State institutions and the fourth of Federal institutions sponsored by the Bureau of Justice Statistics and its predecessors. Earlier censuses were completed in 1974, 1979, 1984, 1990, 1995 and 2000. The facility population was developed from the Census of State and Federal Adult Correctional Facilities conducted in 2000. In 2000, data were collected from 84 federal facilities and 1,584 non-federal facilities operating on June 30th, 2000. In 2005, each States Department of Corrections was contacted to identify new fac ilities and facilities that had been closed since June 2000. Telephone follow-ups were carried out during 2006. All unless one respondent-State of Illinois- participated in the Census.My study determines if in a time period between January 1st, 2005 and December 30th, 2005, the correctional facilities used in existing dataset 24642 experienced physical or inner assaults, misconduct against correctional staff and misconduct against other inmates. The response options for dependent variables have values such as 1 which is label Yes, 2 which is label No, and 9 or 999 which is label Missing.This study aims to determine if free lance variables such as race, age, education and employment, family ties, length of sentence, security level, prison environment and gender have a strong correlation with the dependent variables. Data AnalysisFor my analyses, I used SPSS Statistics program in version 18.0. I ran frequencies and descriptive tests on both dependent and independent variables. More over, I ran analysis of variance and t-test to test how facility security levels and race/ethnicity of the inmates match or dont the amount of violence.Results card 1 Age of the inmates residing in the facilities during the 1- year period of 2005 (Independent Variable).Descriptive Statistics Frequency Percent validated Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Yes 475 26.1 28.6 As seen in postpone 2, during the 1-year period of 2005, 28.6 percent of facilities indicated that yes, on that point were physical or sexual assaults. The other 71.4 percent indicated that there were no physical or sexual assaults. As seen below in Table 3, during the same year period there was an average of just under 16 inmate-on-inmate assaults at facilities. I besides ran a frequency table of staff deaths by inmates, but there were very few.Table 3 During the 1- year period of 2005 how many inmate on inmates assaults(Dependent Variable). N Minimum Maximum Mean Y1_BETWEEN 1/1/2005 AND 12/30/200 5 WERE THERE PHYSICAL OR knowledgeable ASSAULTS The results in the above tables test my hypothesis about how facility security levels usurpation (or dont) the amount of violence, using three different measures of the dependent variable physical or sexual assaults inmate deaths and inmate-on-inmate assaults. I ran three ANOVA (analysis of variance) tests, and the results are shown above. Only the ANOVA tests for Y1 and Y3 were statistically significant. There was no residual by security level in the number of staff deaths by inmates, probably because those were low to begin with. However, in terms of physical and sexual assaults (Y1), these were highest at minimum and low-security facilities (mean =1.91). In terms of inmate-on-inmate assaults, these were highest Maximum/close/high facilities, with an average of nearly 34 assaults by inmates on other inmates in 2005. Table 7 Type of Violence by Race/Ethnicity Y1_BETWEEN 1/1/2005 Y3_BETWEEN 1/1/2005 AND 12/30/2005 WERE AND 12/30 /2005 HOW THERE PHYSICAL OR MANY INMATE ON SEXUAL ASSAULTS INMATES ASSAULTS X1_race_white Pearson correlational statistics -.391(**) .341(**) Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 N 1631 1665 X1_race_black Pearson Correlation -.453(**) .392(**) Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 N 1625 1657 X1_race_ethnicity_Hispanic Pearson Correlation -.290(**) .202(**) Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 N 1450 1479 ** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).As seen above in Table 7, both White and Black race, as well as Hispanic ethnicity, were statistically significantly related to dependent variables Y1 and Y3. Y2 is not shown in the table format because neither race nor ethnicity was related to staff deaths by inmates. Again, this whitethorn be due to the small number of staff deaths. An odd pattern emerges Y1 (number of physical and sexual assaults) was significantly and negatively related to all three race/ethnicity variables. On the other hand, Y3 (number of inmate-on-inmate assaults ) was positively and significantly related to all three race/ethnicity variables. The reasons for this are not clear, but may have something to do with the meaning of the questions asked for Y1 and Y3. As for the size of the correlation coefficient, it is the highest for Blacks (r= -.453 and .392), next highest for Whites (r= -.391 and .341), and concluding for Hispanics (r= -.29 and .202).DiscussionTo return to my first original hypothesis that violent prison misconduct is more prevalent among black and Hispanic inmates than Caucasians or any other ethnic groupI have to say that my findings solely partially support that statement. According to my results violence among or by African- American inmates appears to be the highest, and is followed by violence among or by White inmates. However, violence by or among Hispanic inmates is the lowest comparing it to violence among or by other races. Moreover, my findings on the impact of security level of facility on prison violence were n ot exactly what I evaluate because they differ depending on a type of an assault. Therefore, they partially support my irregular hypothesis that inmates who are residing in maximum-security facilities are more violent than inmates residing in medium or minimum-security facilities, especially towardscorrectional staff. I found that foresee to what I expected, super-maximum facilities are not the most dangerous correctional institutions but they have the highest inmate on inmate number of assaults.Findings from this study about how race impact prison violence partially support what I have found previously in the literature review. According to Wayne Gillespie (2005) and my findings White inmates less likely engage in most types of misconduct compared to African-American inmates but not Hispanic inmates. However, my results on the impact of security level of facility and prison violence are interesting because they do support the findings mentioned in the literature review. All the findings suggest that security level does put on the amount of in-facility violence, but that differs by the type of violence.Limitation of the Study part conducting my research by using existing database I had to face a few problems with it. First of all, the database I found had a lot of variables, which had a value that was missing. Second of all, when I ran the tests such as descriptive or frequencies it was hard to describe the results because they were confusing. I wasnt sure in some cases if the results showed me the number of inmates or the number of facilities. I tried to go back and find the answers in the codebook, which didnt really contain much more information than the database. Moreover, the meaning of the questions that were asked, especially for dependent variables, wasnt clear and I believe it impacted somehow the results of the tests I ran.ReferencesBlackburn, A. G., Mullings, J. L., Marquart, J. W., & Trulson, C. R. (2007). The next propagation of prisoners Toward an understanding of violent institutionalized delinquents. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 5(1), 35-56. muniment ID 1541204006295156. Camp, S. D., Gaes, G. G., Langan, N. P., & Saylor, W. G. (2003). The influence of prisons on inmate misconduct A multilevel investigation. Justice Quarterly, JQ, 20(3), 501-533. Document ID 434413761. Cunningham, M. D., & Sorensen, J. R. (2007). Predictivefactors for violent misconduct in close custody. The Prison Journal, 87(2), 241-253. Document ID 0032885507303752. DeLisi, M., Berg, M. T., & Hochstetler, A. (2004). 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