Prison violence

Prison violence is a daily occurrence due to the diverse inmates with varied criminal backgrounds in penitentiaries. The three different types of attacks are inmate on inmate, inmate on guard, and self-inflicted. These attacks can either be impulsive and spontaneous or well-planned out and premeditated. Factors such as gang rivalries, overcrowding, minor disputes, and prison design contribute to violent attacks. Prisons are trying to avoid, or at least better deal with these situations by being proactive. They are taking steps like placing violent convicts and gang leaders into solitary confinement, balancing the cells by critically examining each inmate to see where they are likely to reside peacefully, reducing blind spots, and training as well as educating the officers.Cutting staff and prison budgets while allowing the number of people behind bars to grow unchecked has created a toxic mix of violence, death and human misery … Today’s figures show that we cannot wait for legislation – bold and radical action is needed now to stop the death toll rising further. Prison violence is a daily occurrence due to the diverse inmates with varied criminal backgrounds in penitentiaries. The three different types of attacks are inmate on inmate, inmate on guard, and self-inflicted. These attacks can either be impulsive and spontaneous or well-planned out and premeditated. Factors such as gang rivalries, overcrowding, minor disputes, and prison design contribute to violent attacks. Prisons are trying to avoid, or at least better deal with these situations by being proactive. They are taking steps like placing violent convicts and gang leaders into solitary confinement, balancing the cells by critically examining each inmate to see where they are likely to reside peacefully, reducing blind spots, and training as well as educating the officers. Prison violence is inflicted onto either another inmate, a prison guard, or themselves. In 1999, it was reported that one in five inmates, or twenty percent of inmates, at fourteen state prisons had been physically assaulted by another inmate. Prison violence can consist of inmates fighting with their fists, homemade weapons, or being raped. The attacks that are implemented onto anyone but the self are either instrumental or expressive. Prison violence is capable of occurring anywhere throughout a prison. Any inmate is capable of acting rash and snapping at any given moment, that an outbreak can occur anywhere and at any time. Oftentimes, an inmate will look for a place that offers a sufficient amount of time to commit their act proficiently. If they are outside of their cell, they have the chance to smuggle out a homemade weapon by placing it up their rectum. Although these acts can occur anywhere, a very common place inmates search for is a blind spot. Prisons are covered with guards standing watch, CCTV, or a combination of the two. Neither of these can possibly cover every inch of a prison’s ground, which is why “…blind spots…allow inmates to conceal illicit activity from security staff”. Therefore, inmates purposefully look for these blind spots to commit violent acts undetected by prison guards. The inmate’s goal is to know that they are going to be able to complete the act of violence to the degree that they desire without guards noticing and intervening. Inmates look for places that give them more time to complete their attacks. The perpetrators of violent attacks are convicted criminals, some of whom in prison for committing crimes that left multiple people brutally beaten and left for dead, so violence is in many of these individual’s nature. These people, “…settle disputes and seek power in the way they are accustomed- through violence”. This natural fire in their bellies is undoubtedly a huge factor that goes into why prison violence occurs, but the physical design of the prison can serve as another factor. A prison can either have indirect or direct supervision. Both types of supervision have their strengths, but also detrimental weaknesses. Indirect supervision is when a correctional officer is placed in an enclosed booth and must constantly watch over the inmates through a bird’s eye view. The physical interactions that officers have with the inmates is minimal, for most of the communication comes through an intercom system. Inmates are placed in their own cells and officers have physical barriers to ensure their own safety. When havoc is wreaked, a call for a response team is placed over the intercom. This type of supervision is strong, but has some drawbacks, such as the creation of blind spots. These are created through indirect supervision because the guards standing watch can have objects blocking tiny spots or they may just not be looking in the right direction at the right time. Indirect supervision is an impersonal and more distant form of supervision that helps with officer safety, but leaves blind spots for “…inmates to conceal illicit activity from security staff”. Direct supervision is a more personal type of design because officers are assigned a cell block to patrol. Through this layout, the guards actually speak to cellmates one-on-one. The minor altercations that take place throughout the day is directly handled by the patrol officer, but this single officer cannot prevent a violent attack from happening. As soon as their back is turned or their attention is focused on someone else, the perpetrator can still commit their violence. In this form of supervision officers are left more vulnerable, but it also leads to, “…decreased tension and stress of staff and inmates…”. Direct supervision is more of a hands-on form of management, where “…major incidents are not as numerous and minor incidents result in higher numbers…”. Overcrowding is a huge problem many prisons face because handling so many short-fused inmates at once can lead to many altercations. The combination of “…overcrowding, inadequate supervision, and inmate access to weapons- can create opportunities for…offenses”. Trying to assert authority and strict rules on these violent offenders is extremely difficult due to the fact that these people do not respond well to restrictions and being told what to do. Having to focus on so many dangerous people at once is just not possible because there will always be someone not being watched over at any given moment; this is most likely when inmates choose to strike. Overcrowding is a very common issue in American prisons that leads to prison violence because the prisons will be understaffed. Prison violence and prison suicide in England and Wales have been increasing year on year while staffing levels have been falling. Reduction in the number of staff is blamed for this and the Ministry of Justice has admitted that staff cuts are a factor. It was felt urgent action was needed. The government has provided money for increased staff but staffing levels are set to remain below 2010 levels.