Violence in Prisons: A Sociological Analysis

Deprivation, importation, and prison suicide: Combined effects of institutional conditions and inmate composition

“…Since the level of analysis is the prison, the results do not provide information on who commits suicide in prison and for what reasons. Thus, inferences about the relationship between individual inmates and suicide are not appropriate (Ellis, Grasmick, & Gilman, 1974;Robinson, 1950). For example, the relationship between inmate composition variables included in the analysis and suicide must be interpreted carefully.…”

“…Goffman (1961) and Sykes (1958) emphasized the later type of adaptation (cooperation). Much of the literature which tested the deprivation model of inmate adaptation examined the former mode of adaptation (i.e., violence and prison disturbances) (for example, Berg & DeLisi, 2006;Cao, Zhao, & Van Dine, 1997;Ellis, Grasmick, & Gilman, 1974;Hochstetler & DeLisi, 2005;Jiang & Fisher-Giorlando, 2002;McCorkle, Miethe, & Drass, 1995). Suicide as a form of (mal-)adaptation has received less attention.…”

Individual and group IQ predict inmate violence

“…Minority status has been linked with a prisoner's risk for violent misconduct (Ellis, Grasmick, & Gilman, 1974;Flanagan, 1983;Myers & Levy, 1978;Petersilia & Honig, 1980;Ramirez, 1983;Sorensen & Wrinkle, 1996;Wooldredge et al, 2001). Similarly, the influence of serving a sentence for a violent offense (DeLisi et al, 2004;Gendreau et al, 1997;Porporino, 1986;Sorensen & Cunningham, 2010;Wooldredge et al, 2001) appears to be relevant.…”

Prison gang integration and inmate violence

“…One of the most popular importation correlates of between-inmate violence is age. Not surprisingly, younger inmates are the most common perpetrators of violence (e.g., Ellis, Grasmick, & Gilman, 1974;Flanagan, 1983;Malibi, Holley, Patrick, & Walls, 1979). According to MacKenzie (1987), younger inmates are more prone to acting on their violent impulses than elderly inmates.…”