Prison Violence 249satisfactory correctional management were conditions that contributed to the Dee
Farmer attack. In Farmer's case, the assailant reacted to the psychologically stress-
ful prison environment by attacking Dee Farmer. Effective prison management,
suitable prison capacity, and programs designed to keep inmates busy contribute
to relieving psychological tension in the prison. Research indicates that the social
and environmental factors that primarily produce prison violence include inmates^1
personal histories of violence; the youthfulness of the prison population; the lower
socioecononiic class of most inmates; racial conflict between prisoners; inmate
norms promoting violent behavior; and the psychological effects of prison con-
ditions suffered by inmates. As mentioned earlier, poor prison conditions such as
overcrowding, inadequate prison management, and lack of program resources con-
tribute to inmate psychological stress causing violence. Additionally, reduced secu-
rity from criminal victimization, the loss of autonomy, and the scarcity of goods
and services also add to this stress. To lessen the physical and psychological effects
of these deprivations, inmates sometimes undertake different illicit activities such
as drug trafficking, murder, gambling, and selling protection from victimization.
These illegal behaviors, in turn, require means for resolving disputes and thus invite
the use of prison violence. The following vignette best exemplifies this process.
J.T, owes C.L. several bottles of scotch. C.L. reports that this debt covers gambling
losses: j.T. insists he has been paying for protection. C.L. gives J.T. 1 month to settle, but
f.T. is unable to do so. The best J.T. can do is supply several packs of cigarettes, which
only covers a small portion of the amount owed. At the end of the 1-month period, J.T
is violently assaulted and killed by V.P., who is often used by C.L. to "collect debts.'
A recent psychological research prison study by McCorkle et al., (1995) found
that poor prison management increases prison violence. Data were collected from
371 state prisons and included measures of both individual and collective violence.
In this study, only adult male state correctional facilities were examined; federal pris-
ons, institutions for youths and women, medical facilities, drug and alcohol centers.
boot camps, work camps, and community correction facilities were excluded. Of
the 371 state prisons, 99 were maximum security, 140 medium security, and 132
minimum security.
Institutions were asked to report major incidents for the period of July 1, 1989
to June 30, 1990. Three types of prison violence were examined: inmate assaults
against inmates, inmate assaults against staff, and riots. Riots were defined as assaults
with five or more inmates involved, which required the intervention of outside
assistance and which resulted in serious injury and/or property damage. McCorkle
et at., (1995) found that the average rate of inmate-on-inmate assaults reported by
prisons for the year was approximately 2 per 100 prisoners. Staff assaults occurred
at a rate of less than 1 per 100 inmates, and 8% of prisons had experienced a riot
during the year.
Prison management variables included the guard-to-inmate ratio, guard turn-
over rate, ratio of White to Black correctional staff, program involvement, and