What Are the Causes of Prison Riots?
- In April 1990, at HM Prison Strangeways in Manchester, England, the most infamous prison riot in modern British history occurred when 1,600 inmates overpowered guards and ran riot in the prison. The source of the protest was a widespread discontent about conditions in prisons all over the UK; inmates called for governors to ease overcrowding in prisons and end the practice of "slopping out," which means urinating and defecating into a bucket in the cell. The justification of the protests became a bone of contention at the ensuing trials, as those defending the prisoners came up against those who alleged it was simply an excuse for violence.
- A major cause of widespread rioting is "copycat" rioting. During the Strangeways riot, prisoners at institutions all over Britain began to cause disturbances in solidarity to the Strangeways rioters. Disturbances were recorded at over 20 different prisons across Britain with some of the worst examples of disturbances occuring at the Glen Parva young offenders institute in Leicestershire. The increased access of prisoners to the media, as well as increased media coverage of events such as prison riots in the days of 24-hour news and the Internet, make this an increasingly prevalent concern.
- The 1980 New Mexico prison riots that left 33 people dead are thought to have been the product of an increasing atmosphere of malice within the prison, brought on by extreme overcrowding. Built to house 800 inmates, the prison would routinely hold 1,200. Such overcrowding led to an atmosphere of brutality, with events such as prisoner-on-prisoner beatings and rapes becoming daily happenings. This led prisoners to accept brutal violence as a way of life. State Attorney General Jeff Bingaman's concerns over poor prison guard training were proved prescient on Feb. 2, 1980, when two prisoners overpowered a guard and took his keys. The prisoners saw their opportunity and a brutal riot erupted.
- Former prisoner H.W. Hollister described the lack of "loyal opposition" in prisons that would quell ill feeling. Hollister spoke of a "prisoner mentality" in which any opposition to the popular views of other prisoners is seen as disloyalty. This leads to a climate of fear within prisons, in which inmates are terrified to question an uprising, for fear of appearing to "side with the enemy." Hollister writes that "the great majority of prison riots appear to be, from beginning to end, an expression of popular will" because prisoners who would happily opt out of violence are too afraid. Consequently, small flareups rapidly escalate into widespread chaos.