In light of the 'Prison Crisis', what are the explanations of, and solutions to, violence within prison?

英格兰和威尔士的监狱正处于危机关头。暴力和自残事件创历史新高，并在不断增加，没有下降的迹象（Bulman, 2018:1）。最近的统计数据显示，“截至2017年12月的12个月里，监狱内发生了近29,500起囚犯袭击事件”（Sturge, 2018:14）。“与2016年12月相比增长了13%，与2015年12月相比增长了44%”（Sturge, 2018:14）。这些暴力增加的因果关系不能仅在一个特定事件或问题的背景下得到充分解释，需要新的研究来充分探讨这种暴力增加的原因。多年来，研究人员试图通过一系列不同的理论来解释监狱暴力。然而，大多数关于监狱暴力的实证研究都是在美国进行的（McGuire, 2018）。因此，有必要对英格兰和威尔士的监狱暴力进行实证研究，以更好地了解当前危机的根本原因。本研究将使用的框架已由Blevins等人（2010）开发，但尚未在英格兰和威尔士监狱进行实证测试。该框架使用Agnew（1992、1997、2001、2002、2006、2009）的一般应变理论（GST）来解释监狱暴力和不当行为（Blevins et al, 2010）。然而，Blevins等人（2010）最近的框架有能力将三种不同类型的模型整合到Agnew的GST中，这是一种独特的方法，因为这些模型之前被认为是相互竞争的。这些模型是“剥夺模型”、“输入模型”和“应对模型”（Blevins et al, 2010:148）；这三种方法都被单独用于了解监狱的不当行为和暴力。据了解，剥夺所造成的痛苦会对个人的心理状态产生深远的影响，从而影响囚犯的行为，并可能导致监狱内的越轨行为（Sykes, 1971）。输入模型认为，一个人的行为和态度不仅仅是由监狱环境塑造的，而是囚犯将他们自己发展的特征和潜在的暴力倾向带入他们所分配的监狱（Irwin和Cressey， 1962）。最后，应对模式认为，如果没有提供应对监狱生活的手段，就会出现越轨行为和暴力行为（Toch 1977, Blevins et al, 2010）。商品及服务税框架试图将许多可能导致监狱暴力的不同因素纳入一个有凝聚力的模型（Blevins等，2010）。例如，当囚犯被拒绝积极的目标，如监狱项目或频繁的探视时，他们会感到压力（Blevins等，2010）。如果这些服务不足或难以获得，那么囚犯可能会对监狱机构感到沮丧，可能导致他们实施暴力作为报复手段（Blevins等，2010）。有各种各样的方法，囚犯试图应付监禁的压力（布莱文斯等人，2010）。例如，一些囚犯决定通过加入帮派等越轨手段来应对，这对个体采取反社会行为产生了负面影响（Blevins et al, 2010）。然而，这个新设计的框架最重要的方面是，它旨在了解监狱暴力的根本原因，如果我们希望对英格兰和威尔士监狱中日益流行的囚犯暴力产生重大影响，这是必不可少的（Blevins等人，2010）。

IntroductionPrisons within England and Wales are at a crisis point. Violence and self-harm incidents are at a record high and are increasing with no decline in sight (Bulman, 2018:1). Recent statistics state that "in the 12 months to December 2017, there were just under 29,500 prisoner assault incidents within prisons" (Sturge, 2018:14). This is a "13% increase compared to December 2016 and a 44% increase from December 2015" (Sturge, 2018:14). The causality of these increases in violence cannot be fully explained in the context of just one particular event or problem and requires new research to fully explore the causes of this increasing violence. For many years, researchers have attempted to explain prison violence through an array of different theoretical ideas. However most empirical research on prison violence has been conducted in the United States (McGuire, 2018). Thus, there is a need for empirical work into prison violence in England and Wales, to gain a greater understanding of the underlying causes of the current crisis.Gaps in Existing LiteratureThe framework that this research will be using has been developed by Blevins et al (2010) but has yet to be empirically tested in English and Welsh prisons. The framework uses aspects of Agnew's (1992, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2009) General Strain Theory (GST) as an explanation of prison violence and misconduct (Blevins et al, 2010). However, Blevins et al's (2010) recent framework has the capability to integrate three different types of models into Agnew's GST, which is a unique approach as these models have previously been understood to compete against each other. These models are "the deprivation model", "the importation model" and "the coping model" (Blevins et al, 2010:148); and all three have been used individually to understand prison misconduct and violence. The pains inflicted through deprivation are understood to have a profound effect on the individual's psychological state, thus affecting the inmate's behaviour and potentially leading to deviant acts within prison (Sykes, 1971). The importation model argues that an individual's behaviour and attitudes are not solely shaped by the prison environment, instead inmates bring their own developed characteristics and potential violent tendencies into their allocated prison (Irwin and Cressey, 1962). Lastly, the coping model argues that without the provided means to cope with prison life, deviant behaviour and violence can emerge (Toch 1977 cited in Blevins et al, 2010). The GST framework attempts to incorporate many different factors that can lead to prison violence into one cohesive model (Blevins et al, 2010). For example, looking into the strain that prisoners feel, when they are denied positively valued goals such as prison programmes or frequent visitations (Blevins et al, 2010). If these services are insufficient or are difficult to access, then prisoners can be left feeling frustrated with the prison institution, potentially leading them to inflict violence as a means of retaliation (Blevins et al, 2010). There are a variety of ways that prisoners attempt to cope with the strains of imprisonment (Blevins et al, 2010). For example, some inmates decide to cope by deviant means such as joining a gang, which has the negative effect of individuals adopting anti-social behaviour (Blevins et al, 2010). However, the most important aspect of this newly designed framework is that it has been designed to understand the underlying causes of prison violence, which is imperative if we wish to have a significant impact on the growing epidemic of inmate violence in English and Welsh prisons (Blevins et al, 2010).