SEGUNDA VUELTA

The relationship between characteristics pertaining to the prison in which a prison offence occurs and prison offending, regardless of the influence of prisoners’ personal characteristics and pre-imprisonment experiences, has been studied in prior research (e.g., Cooke, Wozniak, & Johnstone, 2008; Drury & DeLisi, 2011; Homel & Thompson, 2005; Jiang & Fisher-Giorlando, 2002). Previous literature has relied heavily upon the deprivation theory to explain the relationship between various prison characteristics and prison offending. The deprivation theory is based on the premise of prisonisation, where each prisoner entering the prison system undergoes a process of socialisation, which includes an acceptance of the customs, behaviours, traditions and general culture of a prison (Clemmer, 1940). This process of ‘prisonisation’ and the degree in which the process is effective, according to the deprivation theory, depends on the degree in which prisoners adapt to the restrictions imprisonment poses on them and their willingness, often subconsciously, to adapt to these restrictions (Clemmer, 1940). Prisoners, as well as prison officers, fall into established patterns of interaction and

therefore systems of working, disciplining and living within an institution remain stable, despite an ever-changing prisoner population (Edwards, 1970).

The deprivation theory of prisonisation recognises that imprisonment naturally imposes specific environmental and psychological deprivations on prisoners (Sykes, 1958). Once imprisoned, prisoners are deprived of particular rights such as autonomy, freedom of movement, access to goods and services, heterosexual relationships and security (Sykes, 1958). The ‘pains of imprisonment’ resulting from deprivation may therefore provide the impetus to produce a social system that moderates the rigors of imprisonment (Sykes, 1958). Differences in behaviours between prisoners are explained, according to this theory, by how these pains of imprisonment are felt. Differences in how individuals prioritise the satisfaction of their needs, and the degree in which their needs are satisfied, therefore effect prisoners’ behaviours within prison (Zamble & Porporino, 1990). Deprivation felt by prisoners therefore leads to prisoners exhibiting negative attitudes, values and self-concepts, which in turn lead prisoners to be

aggressive, resist authority, attack other prisoners and commit offences within prison (Jiang & Fisher-Giorlando, 2002; Kellar, 2005; Sykes, 1958). Prison offending therefore reflects prisoners’ inability to adjust to, or to cope with, the physical and social

deprivations of confinement, the rules and procedures of prison authorities, and the stress of living and working with other prisoners (Griffin & Hepburn, 2013).

Researchers attempting to explain the incidence of offending within prison who adhere to the deprivation model of prisonisation see prison offending as influenced and determined solely by prison-specific variables and consider prison as a total institution completely cut off from the free world (Craddock, 1996). This then encourages the process of prisonisation through adaptation to deprivations caused by imprisonment (e.g., Hochstetler & DeLisi, 2005; Jiang & Fisher-Giorlando, 2002).

Researchers adhering to the deprivation theory suggest that prison environments which limit outcome control, choice, or predictability may interfere with prisoners’ capabilities to cope with their surroundings (MacKenzie & Goodstein, 1985; MacKenzie, Goodstein, & Blouin, 1987; Ruback & Carr, 1993) and may essentially create situations that interact with individual characteristics and elicit maladaptive responses (Camp & Gaes, 2005; Steiner, 2008; Steiner & Wooldredge, 2009). This premise supports the

inclusion of prison management (Lukemeyer, 2006; McCorkle, Miethe & Drass, 1995) and prisons’ security rating as variables within prior research (e.g., Dhami, Ayton & Loewenstein, 2007; Gover, Perez & Jennings, 2008; Tischler & Marquart, 1989). As an example of this theory in practice, In regard to prisons’ security ratings, some

researchers have suggested that prisoners who are accommodated in higher-security prison facilities are more likely to experience higher levels of deprivations which results in a greater likelihood of anxiety and tension, and a higher incidence of prison offending, as a result of the danger they perceive to be posed by the other high-risk prisoners confined in the prison (Franklin, Franklin, & Pratt, 2006; Gaes, 1994; Ruback & Carr, 1993).

The use of the deprivation theory of prisonisation to explain prison offending has been criticised by some academics because it places too much emphasis on deprivations resulting from imprisonment (Hochstetler & DeLisi, 2005) and sees the prison as a closed system (Jiang & Fisher-Giorlando, 2002). The importation theory was originally

developed to combat the criticisms resulting from obvious shortfalls in the deprivation theory (Clemmer, 1940; Irwin & Cressey, 1962; Sykes, 1958), and posits that various behaviours are brought into the prison setting, or imported, by prisoners themselves. However, over the years, it has been recognised that prison adaptation in part depends on the conditions and experiences of prisoners prior to imprisonment (Clemmer, 1940; Reid, 1981), rather than purely the deprivations experienced in prisons alone.

Although prior research has found that a relationship exists between the security rating of the prison and prison offending, researchers are at odds in regard to the relationship between the management regime of the prison, the availability and prisoners’ participation in education, employment and programs within prison, and prisoners’ contact with family and friends in the community in terms of their

relationships with prison offending. In addition, further research is required to establish the efficacy of the limited findings relating to the private or public management of prisons and its relationship with prison offending. The following section will review the literature on the relationship between situational characteristics and prison offending. The pertinent theoretical framework relating to situational characteristics will also be

discussed in regard to situational characteristics and prison offending in previous literature.