Context

Violence in prisons – whether between prisoners or against staff – has increased overall since 2015, despite a temporary fall during the Covid-19 period. The most recent Safety in Custody Statistics show that the annual number of recorded incidents of assault has risen from 22,182 (year to 31 March 2016) to 30,820 (2026) in the last ten years. This is mirrored by the rise in self-harm incidents in the same period from 34,665 to 70,632.

The report notes that the complexity of the issue, influenced by multiple interacting factors, has led to some uncertainty over the most appropriate action to address it.

The three main questions guiding this REA were:

1. How can domestic and international evidence on prison workforce and prison regimes help to inform our understanding of what works to reduce violence in prisons?
2. How do prison workforce factors such as volumes, skills and experience impact levels of violence in prisons?
3. How does time out of cells and engagement in purposeful activity impact levels of violence in prisons?

Staff numbers, skills & experience

Unsurprisingly, the number of staff as well as their skills and experience turned out to be critical. Key findings included:

• Higher staff numbers, a stable staff cohort, and a minimal level of vacancies were associated with lower levels of violence. Conversely, lower staff-prisoner ratios were shown to increase staff stress and poorer handling of incidents and therefore increased the risk of violence.
• The role of staff-prisoner relationships were important factors in the likelihood of self-reported and official misconduct. Denigrating attitudes towards prisoners by prison staff was associated with higher levels of violence. Conflict between prison officers was also associated with increased violence among prisoners.
• Procedural justice, including perceptions of fairness of responses to prisoner’s complaints was an important factor in levels of violence.
• Interestingly, there was no evidence found on the effect of staff composition or levels of prison officer experience on violence levels.

Time out of cells and purposeful activity

The REA analysed a number of large-scale studies which examine ‘time out of cells’ (TOOC) or ‘time in purposeful activities’ (TIPA). This includes attendance at rehabilitation programmes, educational and vocational courses and being in employment. There was not always a clear distinction between the terms TOOC and TIPA, therefore it was often not possible to say which factor has the greatest impact on levels of violence. However, the main findings were:

• There is a range of evidence on how time and out of cells, either through attendance at prison programmes or other purposeful activity, can impact levels of violence.
• There is mixed evidence on whether time spent in educational and vocational courses leads to lower levels of violence. Whilst some studies found significant effects in reducing prison violence, others found the inverse effect.

Conclusions

Professor McGuire notes that most of the evidence identified for this review comes from the United States which may not always be relevant to our penal system. Nevertheless, he concludes that the evidence base points towards some constructive system-wide approaches to addressing the challenge of prison violence. It suggests that there is no single solution to tackling the issue and requires multiple elements to be put into practice in combination. These include:

• Overall numbers of prison staff and the staff-to-prisoner ratio are important factors in safe prison management. Evidence reviewed found stability, continuity of staff and minimisation of staff shortages to be associated with lower levels of violence.
• The quality of the relationships between staff and prisoners, and staff behaviour in their interactions with prisoners and with one another are important. The review demonstrated the central importance of procedural justice in the management of prisoners and prison environments.
• There are several key factors that can create a prison climate where violence will be less likely. These include clarity and communication of rules, consistent application of procedural justice, and respectful communication by staff. Behaviour of prison staff towards prisoners and each other is critical in establishing and maintaining this climate.
• Staff attitudes are an important enabler, specifically that they hold and communicate a belief in the possibility of rehabilitation. These attributes may be best combined with the availability of opportunities for prisoners to participate in meaningful and purposeful activities outside of their cells.

Thanks to Andy Aitchison for kind permission to use the header image in this post. You can see Andy’s work here