SOC229 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Cabaret Balkan, Prison Reform, Kingston Penitentiary
11 Dec 2014
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Document Summary
The powder keg theory of prison riots: most prison riots occur in overcrowded, high-security prisons. The powder keg theory argues that riots occur because violent men are subjected to bad prison conditions and react by rioting. Riots also occur in some of our better institutions. The powder keg theory is a statement of necessary, but not sufficient, conditions for prison riots. Anomie in merton"s theory refers to situations in which people aspire to certain goals but find that the means are blocked. He used this theory to explain higher rates of crime in the lower socioeconomic classes. Inmates may have certain reforms they wish but have no way of obtaining them legitimately. A prison riot may represent an illegitimate means of obtaining desired goals. Riots from this perspective would be pre-planned, premeditated, utilitarian attempts to obtain certain goals such as prison reform.
