Catalysts for Prison Violence

Prison Violence

Catalyst Prison Violence

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Catalyst Prison Violence

Prison is filled with citizens that have rejected societal norms in favor of a criminal lifestyle. Many of these criminals are violent offenders that have no regard for others in society. There are many potential catalysts that result in violence in prison, including sociological, political, and economic catalysts, but it begins with a citizen that refuses to follow the law. When a large group of individuals are placed in the same environment and have a similar disregard for the law they will not suddenly start following the rules. Instead they will embrace the criminal subculture of the prison and will display violent behavior.

Sociological catalysts for prison violence involve failures of society to provide the inmate with the prosper supervision to avoid the violence that occurs in prison or fails to recognize the need to rehabilitate violent offenders to avoid additional violence in the prison setting. Social causes can range from the gang environment in which the inmates originates or can be the result of substance addicted offenders. Gangs are prevalent in lower class communities but they are far more prevalent in prison (Garland, 2006). In order to avoid being assaulted in prison the inmate will join a gang which only increases the gangs’ numbers and the level of violence.

Racial and ethnic differences are another leading cause for violence in the prison setting. This can be both social and political. In other words the overrepresentation of minorities in prison causes a large minority population paired with a large nonminority population the result is violence. If minorities were provided with an equal opportunity to succeed in society there would be fewer minorities in the prison environment reducing the racial and ethnic tension. When there is racial tension the result is violence. The majority of non minorities will group together against minorities in the prison environment.

There are also political causes for the overrepresentation of minorities that results in prison violence. The large percentage of minorities in prison, especially African Americans, are blamed on functions in society such as the failure to ensure minorities are treated equally in society or policing agency that rely on racial profiling in order to identify criminal suspects in society. When the selection process is biased the result will be a larger representation of minority groups in society (Levan, 2012). While there is legislation in society to prevent discrimination in the workplace there are few states with legislation to prevent discriminatory behavior by the police.

When there are people in society that feel discriminated against they become angry and frustrated and will lash out in violence. The failure of the federal government to establish legislation in society that would forbid racial profiling has resulted in a large minority population angry at aspects in society that have resulted in their unequal treatment. This only increases racial tensions in the prison environment. The government has an obligation to ensure justice is distributed fairly and equally and are citizens are treated fairly. If the government fails to create a fair society the result will be prison violence form the members of society being discriminated against.

There are also economic reasons for prison violence. America currently houses the largest prison population in the world. This prison population far exceeds the capacity of the prisons that have been built to house them resulting in extreme overcrowding. When prisons are overcrowded the prison staff will have difficulty properly policing the inmates resulting in elevated violence including against prison staff. Another economic issue involves the budget provided to the correctional system being insufficient to ensure there is a sufficient number of staff to prevent the violence that occurs in the prison setting.

References

Garland, G. (2006). Prison officials discuss violence. Retrieved May 28, 2013 from

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2006-09-22/news/0609220246_1_prison-system-prison

Levan, K. (2012). Prison Violence: Causes, Consequences and Solutions. Retrieved May 28,

2013 from http://www.ashgate.com/default.aspx?page=637&calcTitle=1&isbn=9781409433