The prison pressure cooker: crowding as deprivation, opportunity for victimization and frustration

• In Event: Biological, biosocial and psychological drivers of criminal behaviour

Abstract

Common wisdom perceives prison crowding as a contributing factor to prison hostility and violence. Yet, the literature remains divided regarding the psychological effect of crowding, and the empirical results are inconclusive. Three main theoretical models seek to explain the correlation between prison crowding and violence. The most commonly used in the academic literature is the deprivation model that construes crowding as a facet of prisoners’ deprivation. It postulates that crowding is correlated with the ratio between occupancy and capacity. Another model uses the framework of Routine Activity Theory, emphasizing more offending opportunities resulting in overcrowding, and focuses on the number of cohabitating prisoners. The model most common in urban studies literature suggests that crowding correlates to goal frustration caused by others and proposes measuring crowding using spatial density. This study tested the appropriateness of the three models in the context of Israeli prisons, and specific hypotheses for each model were used. In this context, the goal frustration model was found to be best supported by the data.

Author

• Tomer Carmel, Ariel University, Israel