ABSTRACT
Existing theories and related evidence that have emerged from studies of violent offending and victimization among inmates are reviewed, and we also provide a separate discussion of existing theories and evidence regarding prison staff victimization. The aim of this discussion is to trace the development of knowledge regarding the sources of prison violence while noting the major theoretical and empirical contributions to this literature. Regardless of the adopted framework, it has become customary in related research to recognize three broad groups of predictors of inmate violence: pre-prison attributes of individuals, factors reflecting individual-level experiences during confinement, and the attributes of confinement itself operating at the macro level (including management practices). A comprehensive framework of inmate violence must recognize contributions from all three groups while also entertaining other factors not previously considered or examined directly. However, most existing theories fall short in this regard, and some of the more appealing “integrated” perspectives include theories with incompatible assumptions.
