Violence in Prison

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between environmental factors and incidents of inmate violence within four correctional institutions in the southeastern United States: Dade (DCI) and Union Correctional Institutions (UCI), Florida State Prison (FSP), and Tallahassee Federal Correctional I nstitution (FCI). The prisons differ in that two are medium (DCI, FCI) and two are close custody (maximum; FSP, UCI) security prisons. The study investigated seasonal and environmental influences in relation to the propensity for and frequency of noncollective (inmate-to-inmate or inmate-to-staff) violent incidents at the two types of institutions. The results indicated that there may be some environmental influence trends, but that they vary from prison to prison and are not supportive of theories that rainfall, temperature, seasons, or moonphase have direct influences on prison violence.