Situational Risk Factors for Inmate-on-Staff Assaults

• Date: 01 June 2021
• Published date: 01 June 2021
• DOI: 10.1177/00328855211010478
• Author: Susan McNeeley
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/00328855211010478

The Prison Journal

2021, Vol. 101(3) 352 –373

© 2021 SAGE Publications

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DOI: 10.1177/00328855211010478

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Article

Situational Risk Factors

for Inmate-on-Staff

Assaults

Susan McNeeley1

Abstract

This study examines whether situational characteristics of incidents involving

inmates and correctional staff are related to the occurrence of inmate-on-

staff assaults. The analyses compare assaultive and non-assaultive incidents

at an all-male, maximum security prison. The results of logistic regression

models show that several situational characteristics (time, location, behavior

of inmates, and actions taken by staff) differentiate between inmate-on-staff

assaults and non-assaultive incidents. The results suggest that inmate-on-

staff assaults can be reduced through the use of situational crime prevention,

as well as training on signs indicating an assault is likely, the effective use of

protective strategies, and de-escalation techniques.

Keywords

inmate assaults, prison violence, prison staff assaults

Introduction

Compared to other occupations, prison employees are exposed to greater

health and safety risks (Konda et al., 2012), impacting work stress, job satis-

faction, and turnover (Schaufeli & Peeters, 2000). One of the biggest threats

1Minnesota Department of Corrections, St. Paul, USA

Corresponding Author:

Susan McNeeley, Minnesota Department of Corrections, 1450 Energy Park Drive, Suite 200,

St. Paul, MN 55108, USA.

Email: susan.mcneeley@state.mn.us

1010478TPJXXX10.1177/00328855211010478The Prison JournalMcNeeley

research-article2021

McNeeley 353

to prison employee safety is inmate-on-staff assaults. In a survey of 145

Texas jails, 15% reported at least one serious staff assault in a one-year period

(Kellar & Wang, 2005). Lahm (2009) found that 40% of inmates had assaulted

staff in the past 12 months. However, relatively few studies have investigated

this topic; the majority of the existing research has focused on characteristics

of prisons (e.g., Kellar & Wang, 2005; McCorkle et al., 1995), with less work

exploring characteristics of inmates (e.g., Huebner, 2003; Lahm, 2009) or

officers (e.g., Liebling et al., 2011; Steiner & Wooldredge, 2017).

The broader literature on carceral violence demonstrates it is important to

understand the situational characteristics that cause confrontations to escalate

to violence, finding that factors such as time of day, location, presence of

bystanders, and use of weapons predict outcomes such as victim injury and

homicide. However, only a handful of studies have examined situational

characteristics of inmate-on-staff assaults. These identified some common

characteristics, such as locations, times of day, and circumstances (Kratcoski,

1988; Sorensen et al., 2011), but did not investigate whether situational char-

acteristics differentiate between violent and non-violent encounters between

inmates and prison staff.

To fill these gaps in the literature and better understand threats to officers’

health and safety, the current study examines situational characteristics of

inmate-on-staff assaults. In addition, the study compares incidents in which

inmates assaulted staff or attempted to assault staff to incidents in which no

assault occurred. The results of the study will identify red flags indicating

when an inmate might become assaultive, potentially allowing officers to

better perceive threats and respond accordingly. In addition, the results may

uncover protective techniques applied by officers, further empowering them

to prevent inmate-on-staff assaults. By recognizing signs that a situation may

become assaultive and strategies that effectively protect officers, the findings

can provide important insights for preventing assaults and improving officer

safety.

Violence toward Correctional Employees

The importation model (Irwin, 1980) suggests that inmates bring their exist-

ing personalities and cultural expectations into the prison setting, and that

these characteristics influence their institutional behavior. In line with this

theory, the literature has found that several individual characteristics are

related to inmate-on-staff assaults. Black inmates, younger inmates, and

those with less education are more likely to commit assaults against staff

(Harer & Steffensmeier, 1996; Huebner, 2003; Lahm, 2009), as are gang

members and inmates with more serious or violent criminal histories (Harer