The Role of Stakeholders in Prison Violence

The topical area is the correctional facilities and specifically the prison facilities in the U.S. the research paper will focus on the problem of violence in prison, its causes, and the role that various stakeholders within the prison facilities play in fueling the problem and how they can be part of the solution of solving the problem. The paper will also use various data and graph to further highlight the magnitude of the problem and how it can be solved.

Prison violence in US jails has been on the rise over the years and the problem more rampant for those inmates held at medium and high-security federal prisons. The violence is usually inflicted on fellow inmates, prison guards or on self. Historically the problem can be traced back many decades to the days of racism as a result of stereotypes and myths about people of color who were believed to be criminal by nature such as ethnic minorities, black people, immigrants, refugees and Native Americans among others (Deflem, 2017). This led to the disproportionate and mass incarceration of such groups of people. Policies were also formulated during that period of time that contributed to the problem. People in power and legislators came up with strict sentencing laws and law enforcement officers were ordered to be tough on crime resulting into prison administrators being forced to contend with a growing population of prisoners using limited resources.

The violence takes the form of fighting one another with fists, the use of homemade weapons from contrabands and in certain instances rape. Violence takes different forms in prisons that includes instrumental, expressive violence and self-harm. Instrumental type of violence is usually planned carefully before being implemented. This type of violence is used as a means of establishing power and control and for the purposes of protection. Expressive violence on its part is usually spontaneous and in many instances, it is carried out by women (Wener, 2012). It is usually a responsive attack where the Attacker feels threatens or provoked and they act suddenly. Self-harm is more psychological many people that end up being imprisoned usually developmental disorders that take the form of depression and anxiety as a result of the crude treatment that they receive from their fellow inmates, prison officers, and their surroundings. The other forms of violence witnessed in prisons are work and hunger strike which is usually to draw the attention of the authorities over their living conditions. The most affected areas where inmates commit such crime are blind spots which are areas that allow them to conceal their illegal activities away from the eyes of the prison guards who are usually on standby watching over then through CCTVs and other gadgets.

There are various factors that contribute to the problem of prison violence. They include overcrowding, supervision and staffing levels. Overcrowding ion the prisons contributes to the rising cases of prison violence. Taking care of many inmates who are in prison because of committing various crimes at once is a big challenge for the prison officers. Overcrowding and lack of proper supervising coupled with the ability of the inmates to create home-made weapons provide them with the opportunity to commit the crime (Deflem, 2017). It is not easy for the prison guards to assert their authority and make the offenders obey the strict rules. Focusing on many people at once is a big challenge as at any particular time there will always be a person who is not being supervised as a result of understaffing and the offender can take advantage of such instances to strike unnoticed. The type of supervision can also contribute to the level of prison violence.

Direct supervision means that prison guards are allocated a cell block that they have to patrol. In this type of supervision, the guard is in direct contact with the inmates and they speak to one another one-on-one. Cases of violence can be handled directly by the officer though they are left vulnerable to attack especially when they are alone. On the other hand, it reduces the tension between the prison guards and the inmates because they interact at an on a one-on-one basis. Indirect supervision, on the other hand, has the prison guard watching over the inmates in an enclosed area. There is minimal physical interaction between the officers and the inmates and communication are mainly carried out through the intercom system. The inmates are housed in their cells and there are physical barriers that protect the officers from an attack by the inmates. If violence breaks out in the cells t5he officer supervising the inmates calls a response team that moves in to quell the problem. This type of supervision is strong although it has the disadvantage of creating blind spots because the guards that are supervising the inmates may be blocke3d by certain objects. This type of supervision guarantees the safety of the prison guards but create blind spots that allow the inmates to conceal weapons and illicit activities from the prison guards. Staffing levels are yet another factor that contributes to the problem of prison violence. Most prisons are understaffed yet they are overcrowded presenting the prison guards with a big challenge of supervising the inmates. Inadequate staffing levels leave the prison guards more exhausted thus affecting their ability to be alert and conduct thorough supervision of the inmates.