Fear In Prison

Abstract

It is widely accepted that prisoners are at risk of victimization from their fellow prisoners. However, little is known about the psychological consequences of exposure to such risk. In particular, what is the relationship between prisoners' feelings of anxiety and their observations or experiences of victimization? How is the level of incivility in penal institutions related to perceptions of safety? The findings from a survey of 1,182 inmates shed some light on the dynamics of fear in prison. Most prisoners reported feeling safe most of the time, although a small number of prison locations consistently were rated as unsafe. Prisoners with direct experience of victimization were more fearful than those without. An attempt is made to outline possible explanations for these and other findings.