ABSTRACT
Behaviour is affected by context as well as intrinsic psychological characteristics. To understand the risk of violence in prison, we are required to understand the impact of prison ecology broadly defined. In this chapter, I argue that violence reduction can be achieved through the systematic study of a prison's ecology. I describe the evolution of a form of structured professional judgement designed to provide an evidenced-based methodology for the systematic evaluation of prison ecologies. By improving our appreciation of the effects of prison ecology on violence risk, we can develop principled and effective intervention strategies.
