Using Situational Factors to Predict Types of Prison Violence

This study tested situational factors as predictors of types of individual aggressive incidents in a male prison population. The majority of past research on predicting individual incidents of prison violence has seriously downplayed situational factors. The situational variables used covered three general questions: Where? When? and Who Else?. Incidents of violence were categorized by whether the occurrence of an infraction involved aggressive behavior directed at staff, another inmate, self, or property. This study found that situational variables did serve as predictors of these categories of violence. These results support the position that background or personality factors, when used without situational factors, may not provide a complete understanding of prison violence.