Situational Prison Control

This book examines the control of problem behaviour in prison from a situational crime prevention perspective. Following the success of situational crime prevention in community settings, Richard Wortley argues that the same principles can be used to help reduce the levels of assault, rape, self-harm, drug use, escape and collective violence in our prison systems. This pioneering new study proposes a two-stage model of situational prevention that moves beyond traditional opportunity-reduction: it attempts to reconcile the contradictory urges to control prison disorder by ‘tightening-up’ and hardening the prison environment on the one hand, and ‘loosening-off’ and normalising it on the other. Combining a comprehensive synthesis and evaluation of existing research with original investigation and ground-breaking conclusions, Situational Prison Control will be of great interest to academics and practitioners both in the areas of correction and crime prevention more generally.

• Breaks down prison disorder into specific categories • Prevents a new model of situational prevention that moves beyond the traditional opportunity reduction approach • Attempts to resolve the apparently contradictory attempts to maintain prison control by hardening the environment on the one hand, and then normalising it on the other

Part I. Theoretical Foundations: 1. Introduction: Why situational prison control?; 2. Situational theories of prison behaviour; 3. Situational methods of prison control; 4. A model of situational prison control; Part II. Specific Behaviours: 5. Prisoner-prisoner violence; 6. Sexual assaults; 7. Prisoner-staff violence; 8. Self harm; 9. Drug use; 10. Escapes; 11. Collective disorder; Part III. Conclusions: 12. Hard and soft situational prison control.