Situational Prison Control
Crime Prevention in Correctional Institutions

Wortley examines the control of prison disorder through the application of situational crime prevention principles.

Richard Wortley (Author)

9780521009409, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 25 March 2002

268 pages, 9 tables
22.8 x 15.3 x 1.9 cm, 0.44 kg

"...Wortley's pragmatic approach makes this a particularly interesting book. His application of the situational crime prevention strategy to concrete, everyday, real prison management dilemmas makes this a different approach in its own right. Wortley deftly moves from theory to application, all within the framework of 'opportunity reduction'". Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare

This book examines the control of problem behaviour in prison from a situational crime prevention perspective. Following the success of situational crime prevention in community settings, Richard Wortley argues that the same principles can be used to help reduce the levels of assault, rape, self-harm, drug use, escape and collective violence in our prison systems. This pioneering new study proposes a two-stage model of situational prevention that moves beyond traditional opportunity-reduction: it attempts to reconcile the contradictory urges to control prison disorder by 'tightening-up' and hardening the prison environment on the one hand, and 'loosening-off' and normalising it on the other. Combining a comprehensive synthesis and evaluation of existing research with original investigation and ground-breaking conclusions, Situational Prison Control will be of great interest to academics and practitioners both in the areas of correction and crime prevention more generally.

Part I. Theoretical Foundations: 1. Introduction: why situational prison control?
2. Situational theories of prison behaviour
3. Situational methods of prison control
4. A model of situational prison control
Part II. Specific Behaviours: 5. Prisoner-prisoner violence
6. Sexual assaults
7. Prisoner-staff violence
8. Self harm
9. Drug use
10. Escapes
11. Collective disorder
Part III. Conclusions: 12. Hard and soft situational prison control.

Subject Areas: Criminal or forensic psychology [JMK], Crime & criminology [JKV]