SOCI2663 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Total Institution
Vulnerable Populations and Victimization Nov 2
Victimization in institutions
Residents of prisons:
Victimizers: difficult to consider they can be vulnerable
More they depend on family and staff, the more they become victimized
Research shows that assaults, threats, and verbal abuse are perpetrated, received
and witness on a regular basis in the prison system
Prisoners have little control on their daily routines
Example of total institution: prisoners are vulnerable to exploitation
All aspects of inmates lives in directed, controlled, and monitored
Inmates are not controlling who they are associated with and when
The functioning of prisons have limited possibilities to escape, defend from
victimization
Violent inmates: inevitable interactions with those incarcerated for violent
offences
The threat of victimization I present for other inmates and staff
Measuring victimization of prisoners
Assumption that violence is common in prison
Research conducted in the 1990s found that specific forms of violence were
significantly higher in Canadian federal prisons than in other North American
corrections jurisdiction
However, the extent of the violence in prion is difficult to determine
Limitations of official reports
Knowledge on violence In Canadian prisons comes from official reported data
Rely on institutions administration to gather this type of information
The Victimization Project (1997)
One goal of the project was to overcome the inherent problems of official
statistics by administrating a victimization survey to a random sample of male
inmates in federal prisons
Shows that the incidence rate for assaults was approx. 6x higher, and the
victimization rate approx. 3 times higher, than comparable official stats on major
and minor prisoner assaults and fights for the region
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Victimizers: difficult to consider they can be vulnerable. More they depend on family and staff, the more they become victimized. Research shows that assaults, threats, and verbal abuse are perpetrated, received and witness on a regular basis in the prison system. Prisoners have little control on their daily routines. Example of total institution: prisoners are vulnerable to exploitation. All aspects of inmates lives in directed, controlled, and monitored. Inmates are not controlling who they are associated with and when. The functioning of prisons have limited possibilities to escape, defend from victimization. Violent inmates: inevitable interactions with those incarcerated for violent offences. The threat of victimization i present for other inmates and staff. Assumption that violence is common in prison. Research conducted in the 1990s found that specific forms of violence were significantly higher in canadian federal prisons than in other north american corrections jurisdiction. However, the extent of the violence in prion is difficult to determine.
