NCJ Number
238867
Journal
Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 40 Issue: 3 Dated: May/June 2012. Pages: 194-201
Date Published
June 2012
Length
8 pages
Annotation
In applying macro-micro principles of General Strain Theory (GST) in predicting prisoner misconduct, this study tested the hypothesis that prison-based strain will adversely impact inmates and increase their misconduct.
Abstract
Strain theories argue that individuals use delinquency as a maladaptive coping or problem solving activity in response to their experience of the loss of positive stimulation, or the experience of negative stimulation, or experience failure to achieve their goals, or experience a combination of the aforementioned strains. Using deprivation (environmental strain) as the primary independent variable, the study concluded that prison strain is positively associated with violent misconduct in prison; however, the magnitude of the effect varies across distinct inmate developmental trajectories for in-prison misconduct. The trajectories were classified as "chronic class," "early-onset limited class," and "delayed-onset class." Suggestions are offered for future research that could lead to specific recommendations for reforms in the prison environment designed to reduce inmate violent misconduct. Data obtained from a large southern State were used to examine how environmental strain in prison influenced inmates' violent misconduct. Analyses included a group-based trajectory model for monthly counts of violent misconduct for the first 3 years of incarceration. The analysis involved assessing whether the strain of the prison environment distinguishes between trajectory classes for violent prison misconduct (using a latent measure of prison deprivation as a proxy for environmental strain). The analysis used finite multilevel mixture modeling with environmental strain as both a within-class and between-class predictor at the prison level. 4 tables, 1 figure, 8 notes, and 87 references