Posted: May 15th, 2022

Prison Riots and Violence

Prison Riots and Violence
Riots within any society emerge when a group of people experience some sense of deprivation, and hence they attempt to voice their opinions. Within prisons, riots can, at times, get out of hand and result in violence and, in most cases, injury. However, not all cases of violence in prisons come about as a result of riots. A few of the main causes of prison riots include overcrowding as it results in increased stress among prisoners. Poor responses towards inmate complaints and unmet inmate needs also cause them to feel neglected and may cause them to riot in a bid to get their complaints across. Poor prison management such as in instances where wardens unnecessarily use force or assault inmates can cause riots.
A failure to control contraband and gang activity by management may also cause tension among inmates, causing them to riot. Interestingly, some of the issues that cause riots also cause prison violence such as overcrowding, unaddressed gang and drug prevalence, and poor management, especially if the staff is not well trained to respond to inmates professionally. However, violence can also emanate as a result of the prison’s architecture. Typically, having inmates in a single cell reduces their chances of disagreements, which is one of the main causes of violence. Also, inmates that join prisons with violent tendencies tend to drag on their aggression issues, causing violence.
Part of the responses that a prison administrator may take to reduce violence and riots in prisons effective training of management stands out. All of the institutions’ staff needs to understand how they should behave towards inmates and handle their grievances, ensuring that they also understand inmate rights and freedoms. Another way would be to try and eliminate all drug use and gang practices within the facility by singling out the culprits and having them set an example for others. This gives majority of the population peace of mind, assuring their safety as well as significantly reducing the amount to anxiety gangs and drugs bring to management.

References
Labrecque, R., Scherer, H., & McCafferty, J. T. (n.d.). Reducing Violence in Correctional Institutions: Revalidation of the Inmate Risk Assessment for Violent, Nonsexual Victimization. springerpub.com. https://connect.springerpub.com/content/sgrvv/33/1/126
Taylor-Nicholson, E. (2013, February 6). CONTAGION OF VIOLENCE – Contagion of Violence – NCBI Bookshelf. National Center for Biotechnology Information. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK207242/

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