Discussing of The Problem of Violence in Prison

Background

Violence between prisoners has been an underlying and worrying problem in prisons. It can cause a considerable amount of harm – both physical and psychological (HM Prison and Probation Service, 2018). Many prisoners are regularly assaulted both physically and sexually, threatened or harassed. The physical safety of some prisoners, (especially sex offenders) can only be achieved by isolating them for their own protection and safety (Levenson, 2000).

There were more than 140,000 admissions into prison in England and Wales in 2017. This number was the highest in western Europe (Prison Reform Trust, 2019). Demographics show that of these in 2017 there were around 18,405 recorded assaults in public prisons in England and Wales. This figure had increased by 10% since 2016 (16,782 recorded assaults). Since 2000 (only 4891 assaults in prison) to 2017, overall it has increased by roughly 276% (Gov Website, 2019). A study found that it was smaller to medium-sized facilities that had higher rates of prisoner-on-prisoner physical violence.

Types of Violence between prisoners

Violence between prisoners comes in many different forms, the main one being physical violence. This includes prisoner-on-prisoner fighting and beatings which lead to bodily injuries, and in some cases, death. In addition, psychological harm such as threats and bullying which can lead to self-harm or suicide can also be considered. Finally, one of the most common types which occurs, and is a persistent problem within prisons is sexual assault (Scraton & McCulloch, 2009). Key findings produced from an analytical summary presents the findings on 1,742 alleged sexual assaults reported in prisons in England and Wales between 2002 and 2014:

• 20% of assaults that were reported as sexual included physical contact, but not genital or groin contact.
• 16% of sexual assault involved genital or groin contact of either party, and was considered assault.
• 11% of sexual assaults were reported as rape. This category was more prone to some form of repeat victimisation (Sondhi, Hinks and Smith, 2018).

A previous study also found from using self-report questionnaires from a total of 433 females and males who were incarcerated at the time had experienced sexual coercion. Men reported that their perpetrators in worst-case incidents were inmates (72%). On the other hand, women reported that 47% of perpetrators were inmates. Greater percentages of men (70%) than women (29%) reported that their incident resulted in oral, vaginal, or anal sex (Struckman-Johnson & Struckman-Johnson, 2006)

Causes of violence between prisoners

Causes vary environmentally and individually. For example, many individuals may have a tendency to violence, meaning they are more likely to attack, initiate a fight or fight back if provoked. On the other hand, environmental factors come into play and may be a contributing factor to the cause of violence between inmates. Most literature on assaultive behaviour between inmates only tends to focus on one level of analysis, resulting in commonly ignoring the importance of prison context on inmate behaviour (Lahm, 2008). If their environment such as a cell is unkept, unhygienic, dirty, and small. This can cause people to feel uncared for and many may retaliate by being violent towards others. Some other causes may be:

• the acceptance of violence as a solution to problems or as a way of gaining status and respect, which then becomes a part of the individual’s cultural norms.
• A way of relieving frustrations and boredom due to lack of activity.
• Consequences from the use of drugs and in cases where prisoners may want to act violent towards a prison staff member but don’t have the opportunity to do so and as a result, tend to take it out on a fellow inmate (HM Prison and Probation service, 2018).

Assailant and victim demographics

Ethnicity

Between the year 2012 and 2017, the rate of assaults increased per 1000 prisoners in all ethnic groups. The overall rate for assailants doubled in this period (Gov Website, 2019). According to official statistics, the ethnic group that had the highest amount of assailants between males and females was that of a White ethnic group in 2017, with 11,207 recorded assaults (10,442 in 2016 – 7.33% increase. This is then followed by a Black or Black British ethnic group with a figure of 4,050 recorded assaults in 2017 (3,549 in 2016 – 14.12% increase) (HM Prison and Probation Service offender equalities annual report, 2018)

The trend was also similar for male and females victims. Approximately 9,231 victims were of a white ethnicity in 2017 (8,493 in 2016 – 8.69% increase). Following behind are victims of a Black or Black British ethnic groups with a figure of 1,758 in 2017 (1,604 in 2016 – 9.8% increase)( HM Prison and Probation Service offender equalities annual report, 2018).

Gender

Demographics for gender show that assailants are most likely to be males rather than females. In 2017, the number of assaults which involved male assailants was 17,605 (16,112 in 2016 – 9.27% increase). On the other hand, the number of female assailants was 800 in 2017 (670 in 2017 – 19.4% increase) (HM Prison and Probation Service offender equalities annual report, 2018).

In 2017, there were 12,532 male victims (11,587 in 2016 – 8.16% increase), in compared to 483 female victims in 2017 (354 in 2016 – 36.44 % increase) (HM Prison and Probation Service offender equalities annual report, 2018).

Age

The statistics regarding the age of assailants and victims are shown for men and women generally. In 2017, 4,188 assailants were aged between 30 and 39 (3648 in 2016 – 15% increase). This was followed by 21 – 24-year olds (3,995) (HM Prison and Probation Service offender equalities annual report, 2018).

The age group that was targeted most was that if 30 – 39year olds (3,623). This, however, was then followed by the second most targeted group which was 25 - 29-year olds (HM Prison and Probation Service offender equalities annual report, 2018).

Consequences of prison violence on victims

The effects of incarceration can be extremely profound, even if one is not directly victimized while in prison. Evidence suggests that being immersed in a society where violence is considered the norm can have negative and damaging effects mentally, physically and emotionally, and can even result in death for some. Effects can be short term as well as long term, and can even affect the reintegration of inmates when released back into the community. Not only does this influence the inmate, but can also extend to their family, friends, community and society as a whole (Levan, 2016)

A study found that from a total of 382 male inmates and 51 female inmates, men and women were similar in feeling depression. In addition, 37% of men and 11% of women reported suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts as a result of sexual coercion from fellow inmates (Struckman-Johnson & Struckman-Johnson, 2006). In addition, another study found that sexual violence between inmates can cause a number of health issues such as STI’s being passed on, as well as trauma for victims. It goes on to explain that from a public health perspective, the number of potential victims that are susceptible to HIV and other health and mental health problems as a result of violence inside the prison is “staggering” (Wolff, Blitz, Shi, Bachman & Siegel, 2006).

Interventions to reduce violence between prisoners

Knowledge of violence and ‘bullying’ among prisoners can be increased by studying prisoners’ behaviour. In addition, knowledge on the victims of bullying and how to protect them, as well as how to improve the security of the prison can be useful to create interventions to reduce violence between prisoners (Connell & Farrington, 1996). A fairly common way to reduce violence between prisoners is enhanced restrictions, such as isolation and segregation for perpetrators. This method can either be effective as it keeps preparators away from any potential victims; However, it may also lead to a loss of legitimacy that can escalate violence (Bottoms, 1999).

Environmental interventions

Recently, the focus on correctional treatment programs on prison misconduct has shifted to focusing more on the situational factors in prison that may impact upon institutional violence (Byrne & Hummer, 2008; Gadon, Johnstone & Cooke, 2006).

A prison cell is where inmates spend most of their time. As mentioned under the ‘causes of violence between prisoners’, those who feel uncared for and who may be living in dirty, degrading and unhygienic conditions may retaliate on their fellow prisoners. Introducing refurbishments to prisons (mainly to cells) such as new beds, toilets, the painting of walls to provide some aesthetic satisfaction, etc, may be an important step towards reducing violence between prisoners. It’s common that prison cells are dirty and filled with blood, bodily fluids and vomit; Therefore, having cells cleaned thoroughly at least 2 times a week may be essential for the hygienic safety of prisoners. This ties in well with the problem of overcrowding. This usually occurs when two or more prisoners are held in a cell designed to hold one (Harvey, 2018).

Building larger prison cells which can contain more than just one prisoner and building more prisons around the UK in attempt to reduce overcrowding may have an indirect positive influence on any fighting or bullying that occurs in prisons. This may also be done by placing more attention to those with the highest risk of violent behaviour rather than focusing on lesser crimes, such as minor drug offenses (American Psychological Society, 2009).

Individual interventions

Psychoeducational programmes to reduce violence between prisoners is one that has been around for many decades. The efficacy of this approach as well as some others have been examined. Three different types of programmes have been identified as being the most influential and useful in reducing violent behaviour in prisons in general, however can also be used to reduce violence towards other inmates (Auty, Cope & Liebling, 2017):

• Social learning interventions – involves cognitive reconstructing (a process which involves a psychologist helping the individual become aware of their mental schema and how to make choices about it) and skill building (teaching inmates new skills may be beneficial as they can use those skills in prison to help out with jobs. This is a great way to keep offenders distracted and busy, as well as get rid of any frustration and will keep them away from any trouble).
• Cognitive behavioural approaches – focuses on improving self-control (thinking before acting), problem solving skills, social perspective taking, critical reasoning skills, cognitive style and understanding the values which governs behaviour.
• Radical behavioural approaches – This approach simply involves ‘conditioning’ inmates to behave correctly. Rewarding individuals for good behaviour is likely to increase that behaviour. This can be applied to a prison settings where inmates are more likely to associate good behaviour with great rewards such as smoking breaks, increasing the amount of phone calls they can make or access to better food.

Most of the time, a combination of all of these programmes is necessary to create the biggest positive impact.

Conclusion

Finally, ensuring there is work available for inmates may be a great and effective way to keep individuals focused on something more productive other than behaving violently towards another inmate, which can result from a lack of motivation, frustration and boredom. Jobs can include cleaning the prison and cells, serving food in canteens, cleaning dishes, washing up prison uniforms as well as bed linen and towels, etc. It’s been proved that most prisoners are willing to work rather than being stuck in cells all day (American Psychological Society, 2009).