Institutional aggression

• Institutional aggression refers to aggressive or violent behaviour within the social context of a prison or other institutional settings. This theory is made up of dispositional and situational explanations for aggression.
• Dispositional aggression (the importation model) argues that personality factors cause institutional aggression. Behaviours and belief systems form outside the prison and are 'imported'.
• Situational aggression (the deprivation model) claims situational factors cause aggression. The 'deprivation' in the institution causes aggression rather than the personalities of the individuals.