Individual characteristics related to prison violence: A critical review of the literature

Schenk, Allison M.; Fremouw, William J.

doi:10.1016/j.avb.2012.05.005

Cited by 101 publications

(102 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…Our results for the prevalence of misconduct are similar to those reported by several other studies of physically violent misconduct (Lahm, ; Wooldredge & Steiner, ), but the rates we found were much lower than those reported by previous studies carried out in Switzerland (Endrass, Rossegger, Frischknecht, et al, ; Endrass, Rossegger, Urbaniok, et al, ; Pont et al, ). This may be due to differences in situational factors, which have been shown to impact rates of physically violent misconduct by prisoners (Schenk & Fremouw, ; Welsh, Bader, & Evans, ) and/or to differences in methodology. For example, Endrass et al reported physically violent misconduct over the whole incarceration period while Pont et al reported rates of physically violent misconduct over the same length of time as the present study (12 months), but their study was carried out in a pre‐sentencing prison with overcrowded cells contrasting the relatively comfortable living conditions of the high‐security prison used for our evaluation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, a large meta‐analysis showed that many studies on the role of individual psychological characteristics, suffered from major methodological weaknesses and were therefore of limited validity (Schenk & Fremouw, ). Investigations into the use of psychological assessments and risk assessment instruments to predict violence in prisons have frequently measured general misconduct, rather than specifically violent misconduct, and have focused exclusively on certain categories of prisoner (e.g., psychiatric inpatients or prisoners with intellectual deficits), rather than on prisoners in general.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Predicting physically violent misconduct in prison: A comparison of four risk assessment instruments

Abbiati

Palix

Gasser

et al. 2018

Behavioral Sci & The Law

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Violence in correctional facilities is an important issue for both prisoners and prison staff. Risk assessment instruments have demonstrated their accuracy in predicting the risk of (re) offending and institutional violence in psychiatric settings, but less is known about their ability to predict violent misconduct in prison. The present study applied four risk assessment instruments (Structured Assessment of Protective Factors for violence risk, Historical Clinical Risk Management-20, Psychopathy checklist - Revised, and Violent Risk Appraisal Guide) to 52 violent offenders in a Swiss prison in order to evaluate the instruments' predictive validities. Outcomes were instances of physically violent, other and any misconduct as recorded in prison files during the 12 months following the prisoners' assessments. Approximately 15% of offenders committed physically violent misconduct and approximately 42% committed any misconduct. The results show that mainly dynamic assessment tools are as good predictors of physically violent misconduct as mainly static assessment tools. Targeting dynamic factors could increase the effectiveness of interventions to reduce the risk of physical violence in prison.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predicting physically violent misconduct in prison: A comparison of four risk assessment instruments

Abbiati

Palix

Gasser

et al. 2018

Behavioral Sci & The Law

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“…Although a longitudinal design does not rival an experiment when making causal inferences, measuring predictor variables in a time order consistent with the proposed theoretical effects provides greater confidence in the results by reducing a central threat to internal validity. Another strength of the data is the wide range of measures that prior research has identified as potential confounders (see, e.g., Adams, ; Arbach‐Lucioni, Martinez‐García, and Andrés‐Pueyom, ; Bottoms, ; Gendreau, Goggin, and Law, ; Schenk and Fremouw, ) and that can be included as controls.…”

Section: Theoretical Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Code of the Street and Inmate Violence: Investigating the Salience of Imported Belief Systems

et al. 2013

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Scholars have long argued that inmate behaviors stem in part from cultural belief systems that they “import” with them into incarcerative settings. Even so, few empirical assessments have tested this argument directly. Drawing on theoretical accounts of one such set of beliefs—the code of the street—and on importation theory, we hypothesize that individuals who adhere more strongly to the street code will be more likely, once incarcerated, to engage in violent behavior and that this effect will be amplified by such incarceration experiences as disciplinary sanctions and gang involvement, as well as the lack of educational programming, religious programming, and family support. We test these hypotheses using unique data that include measures of the street code belief system and incarceration experiences. The results support the argument that the code of the street belief system affects inmate violence and that the effect is more pronounced among inmates who lack family support, experience disciplinary sanctions, and are gang involved. Implications of these findings are discussed.

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“…In prisons, various institutional factors, such as daily routines, security level, and crowding (e.g., Bierie 2012; Griffin and Hepburn 2013;Steiner 2009;Steiner and Wooldredge 2008;Wooldredge and Steiner 2009) and individual factors, such as age, gender, marital status, and offense type (e.g., Schenk and Fremouw 2012;Wulf-Ludden 2013), are seen as influencing inmate violence. A key factor maintaining the stability of prisons is prison management.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A preliminary investigation of the effect of correctional officers’ bases of power on their fear and risk of victimization

Stichman

Gordon

2014

Journal of Crime and Justice

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Despite research on disorder in prison, knowledge is limited regarding keeping order within the correctional environment. A sector of this research delves into how the uses of correctional officer power influence inmate compliance and support the goals of the institution, but no research has examined how officers rely on different power bases because of their own fear and risk of victimization; the current study preliminarily explores this issue. This study used the results of a self-administered survey of 1231 officers in adult prisons in a Mid-Atlantic state. Of the various bases of power, expert power and legitimate power were negatively related to fear, and expert power and referent power were negatively related to risk of victimization. Conversely, reward power was positively related to risk of victimization. The study concluded that officers who rely on more internal bases of power are less fearful and believe themselves to be at lower risk of victimization compared to officers who rely on more external bases of power.

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Individual characteristics related to prison violence: A critical review of the literature

Cited by 101 publications

References 39 publications

Predicting physically violent misconduct in prison: A comparison of four risk assessment instruments

Predicting physically violent misconduct in prison: A comparison of four risk assessment instruments

The Code of the Street and Inmate Violence: Investigating the Salience of Imported Belief Systems

A preliminary investigation of the effect of correctional officers’ bases of power on their fear and risk of victimization

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