Transcript Qualitative Interview Data Collected From Approved Premises Residents, 2022.

The aim of this thesis is to provide an understanding of, and solutions to, England and Wales (E&W) prison violence using a General Strain Theory (GST) framework. The GST framework is designed to be able to provide explanations for a variety of types of behaviours and criminal activities. A recent research paper by Blevins et al. (2010) outlined how to apply GST with three major prison theories that are often used to understand prisoner violent behaviours - the deprivation model, the importation model, and the coping model.

Since Blevins et al.’s (2010) article was published prison researchers have tested this theory’s understanding of prison strains and behaviour. However, these research studies have predominantly been conducted in United States (U.S.) prisons using a quantitative approach. This research offers a unique perspective by testing this theory qualitatively and by focusing on an E&W prison context. E&W prison strains will differ substantially from the strains highlighted in U.S. prison studies due to cultural and structural differences. It is therefore necessary for this research to highlight the specific strains that affect E&W prisoners’ violent behaviour.

This research comprised interviews with 41 recently released prisoners housed in 11 Approved Premises. Through analysing the interview data, I identified three systemic strains that are contributing to prison violence. These systemic strains are as follows: the strain of blocked desired costly goods; the strain of prison staff attitudes, disrespect, lack of support and misuse of power; and the strain of a strict regime. Each systemic strain produces and increases the magnitude of various stressors inside prisons. These stressors create pressure on some prisoners to react violently to attract attention, to defend themselves, to remove anticipated risks or to gain emotional relief. In order to reduce violence in E&W prisons these systemic strains need to be addressed.