Situational Explanations

• Who came up with the Deprivation Model?

  Clemmer
• What is the Deprivation Model?

  • The cause of institutional aggression is the prison environment itself
  • Harsh conditions are stressful for inmates so they resort to aggressive behaviour to cope
  • These conditions include deprivation of freedom, goods and services, safety and heterosexual intimacy
  • This leads to competition for goods amongst inmates
  • Aggression is also caused by the nature of the regime
  • Unpredictable lock ups create frustration, reduces stimulation and leads to aggression
  • Aggression becomes an adaptive solution to deprivation
• Supporting Evidence - Steiner et al 


  • Investigated factors that predicted inmate aggression in 512 American prisons
  • Found that inmate-on-inmate violence was more common in prisons where there were higher proportions of female staff, African-American inmates, Hispanic inmates and inmates in protective custody for their own safety
  • These are all prison-level factors because they are independent of the individuals characteristics
  • The factors reliably predicted aggressive behaviour in line with the deprivation model
• Supporting Evidence - Cunningham et al


  • Analysed 35 inmate homicides in Texas prisons and found that motivations for the behaviours were linked to some of the deprivations identified by Clemmer
  • Particularly important were arguments over drugs, homosexual relationships and personal possessions
• Contradictory Research - Hensley et al


  • Studied 256 male and female inmates in two prisons in Mississippi a state that allows conjugal visits
  • There was no link between these visits and reduced aggressive behaviour