Discuss one or more theories or studies on institutional aggression
Institutional aggression refers to violent behaviour that exists within and can define institutions and groups. These institutions include distinct entities such as schools or prisons, or may be larger bodies such as the police or the armed forces. Sometimes the members of these institutions may adopt features of aggressive behaviour such as physical abuse of individuals. There has been a lot of research carried out particularly focusing on aggressive behaviour in prisons, leading to the development of two theories.
The first theory is the importation model, proposed by Irwin and cressey. This explanation focuses on the characteristics that prisoners enter the institution with, and claims that those with certain values, attitudes and past experiences are more likely to engage in interpersonal violence than other inmates. The model therefore argues that violent or aggressive behaviour is not a product of the institution itself but rather the characteristics that individuals possess when they enter the institution. Younger inmates are are thought to find it more difficult adjusting to life in prison and are therefore more likely to have confrontations with other inmates and prison staff. They are also likely to view violence as an appropriate response to conflicts.
Research evidence supporting this theory includes Harer and Steffensmeier’s study, finding that in US prisons, black inmates were significantly more aggressive than white inmates, but that white inmates were more likely to engage in alcohol and drug taking than black inmates. They argued that this behaviour reflected the cultural norms that black and white societies hold outside prison, and that the behaviours had been imported into the prison. Another study by Keller and Wang found that prison violence is more likely to occur in